Gremlins star Zach Galligan says another sequel could soon be on the way — as long as Steven Spielberg likes the script he’s been sent.
“After 35 years, they’ve come up with a script,” Galligan told fans at Comic Con Manchester in the U.K. this past weekend.
“Warner Bros. is incredibly interested in doing it, apparently it’s waiting on Mr. Spielberg to read it and approve it,” the actor shared.
Galligan added that fans can “thank the success of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” for the possibility of a new Gremlins sequel.
Galligan played Billy Peltzer in the beloved 1984 movie as well as its cult 1990 sequel, Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Both films were directed by Joe Dante.
The Gremlins franchise also includes a number of video games based on the movies, as well as an animated prequel series set in the 1920s called Gremlins.
Season 1, Secrets of the Mogwai, premiered on HBO Max in May 2024, while a second season, The Wild Batch, began rolling out in October 2024.
Galligan had a recurring guest voice role in the cartoon. A third season of the animated series has yet to be confirmed.
In April 2015, Warner Bros. Pictures co-chief Pam Abdy confirmed the studio was “developing new entries in the Gremlins” franchise alongside Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment.
Spielberg executive produced Gremlins and Gremlins 2: The New Batch, as well as the animated prequel series.
Everything We Know About the Third Gremlins Movie
A third live-action Gremlins film has been in development since at least the early 2010s, with reports of a planned reboot initially floating around.
In 2015, Galligan confirmed the third movie would be a sequel to the original films, not a reboot.
The following year, the actor shared that Chris Columbus, who wrote the original film, was “aggressively working on a Gremlins 3.”
In a 2017 interview, Columbus said he was “really proud of the script” he had written, and teased a “twisted” future for the beloved comedy-horror franchise.
READ MORE: 20 Movies You Won’t Believe Are Rated PG
“It is as twisted and dark as anything, so we’ll see. It’s always a budgetary conversation when we’re going to shoot it. I wanted to go back to the really twisted sensibility of the first movie. I found that was a very easy place for me to fall back into and start writing again so hopefully we’ll see that movie soon,” Columbus said.
According to Columbus, his script explores the ethics behind whether or not Gizmo should be eliminated considering the gremlins are born from the furry little critter getting wet or being fed after midnight.
The filmmaker added that a sequel would feature “minimal CGI” alongside practical puppetry and animatronics to bring the creatures to life on screen.
80s Movies That Got Bad Reviews That Are Actually Good
These popular ’80s favorites got bad reviews from critics. Did they get it wrong?
