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Gremlins Writer on the Status of the Next Installment

While Gremlins endures in pop culture, a third film is still elusive, with Chris Columbus saying it's "a never-ending writing assignment."

Gremlins remains one of the most recognizable titles in modern movie mythology, an Amblin-born blend of Christmas movie, creature feature, and black comedy that turned a mischievous Mogwai into a merchandising icon. The 1984 original, directed by Joe Dante from a script by Chris Columbus and produced by Steven Spielberg, follows small-town teen Billy Peltzer after he's gifted a mysterious pet named Gizmo, with three rules that must never be broken: keep him away from bright light, don't get him wet, and never feed him after midnight. Break the rules, and Gizmo's adorable exterior gives way to a swarm of anarchic Gremlins who turn holiday cheer into havoc.

A sequel arrived six years later with Gremlins 2: The New Batch, again directed by Dante, which relocated the chaos to a Manhattan megatower and gleefully satirized corporate media, sequels themselves, and the franchise's own zany mythology. While it underperformed the original at the box office, the sequel has since grown a cult following for its cartoon-logic gags and creature work. The property has persisted outside theaters, too: from video games and comic books to the recent animated prequel series Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai, which reintroduced younger audiences to the lore and to Gizmo's enduring appeal.

Gremlins Writer on the Status of a Potential Gremlins 3

And yet, for a brand this famous, a third film has been surprisingly hard to nail down. Development talk resurfaces every few years, but no version has cleared the final hurdles. As writer-producer Columbus put it in a recent Total Film interview, "There's a bunch of scripts for [another] Gremlins. I mean, nothing has been approved. We're working on something, but we're always [working on something]. Gremlins is a never-ending writing assignment." It's a pretty candid assessment of where things stand as a formal greenlight continues to elude the franchise.

Part of the challenge is likely tonal. Gremlins walked a tightrope between cozy and cruel, inspiring both parental outrage and playground obsession; it was one of the flashpoints that helped usher in the PG-13 rating. Any continuation has to feel mischievous and a little mean without tipping into cynicism, while also making room for the warm, character-driven beats that made audiences care about Gizmo, Billy, and the Peltzer clan in the first place. There's also a practical question of craft: the first two films were powered by tactile puppetry and on-set gags and fans are vocal about wanting that hand-made energy preserved.

The franchise has already proven it can shapeshift, from suburban satire to media-savvy parody to animated origin story, so the potential for a third feature feels tangible. But until the right script, schedule, and creative consensus align, the mogwai are staying in their box, waiting for the perfect (after-midnight) moment to pounce.

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