Gremlins 3: What Happened to the Planned Sequel? (2024)

The Gremlins franchise has always been a small one, with just two movies to its credit for decades. Both have become classics in their own right, with the first being an indelible piece of 1980s nostalgia, while the second is a cult-favorite send-up of the marketing forces that created the first. The recent success of the Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai streaming series confirms that the fan base is loyal. Despite that, however, the franchise hasn't seen the kind of legacy sequels and projects enjoyed by other era classics such as Ghostbusters and The Karate Kid.

It's not for a lack of effort. Gremlins' sterling reputation and legions of fans make it a go-to for a Part 3, and Secrets of the Mogwai demonstrates that the franchise still has a lot of untapped storytelling potential. There have been multiple efforts over the years to bring a third Gremlins movie to the big screen. Sadly for fans, it hasn't happened yet, and while a second season of Secrets of the Mogwai has been greenlit, it may be some time -- if ever -- before Gremlins 3 gets the same treatment.

Multiple Efforts Have Been Made to Produce Gremlins 3

Even more than Joe Dante (who directed the first two films), Gremlins has been championed by its screenwriter, Chris Columbus, who went on to a prolific directing career of his own. That has fueled periodic rumors of a third movie, starting in 2014, when Vulture reported that Warner Bros. was working on a reboot. Actor Zach Galligan, who starred in the two live-action Gremlins movies, mentioned the possibility of a sequel to Bleeding Cool in 2016. The next year, Columbus shared with Slash/Film that he had penned a "dark" script for a third movie, billed as a direct sequel to the first two, rather than a reboot. In 2020, Columbus again spoke to the press about the project, and stated that the gremlins in the third project would be created with practical effects rather than CGI.

The sustained attention for that much time suggests that Columbus is serious about getting the third film made, and the director certainly has sufficient clout to generate additional interest in Gremlins 3 simply because he's attached to it. Galligan, too, remains enthusiastic about the prospect, and beyond Gizmo himself, Billy Peltzer is arguably the most important character in the franchise. Despite that, however, the project remains actively in limbo. Warner Bros. has made no formal announcement of such a film, and while Columbus may be the person to direct it, the studio has yet to get onboard publicly. That leaves Gremlins 3 in the realm of speculation, at least for now.

One of the reasons for the lengthy delay between Gremlins 2: The New Batch and Secrets of the Mogwai has nothing to do with creative inspiration, but from behind-the-scenes issues. Warner Bros. didn't acquire the rights to the name and IP until 2019, which put a damper on any ambitions before then. Instead of developing a third movie, they went with Secrets of the Mogwai, which allows for a wider range of stories without requiring a big-screen budget. Its success could convince the studio to go forward with a third movie, and with a second season on the way, the prospect of Gremlins 3 will likely be on the table for some time. The question is when or if Warner Bros decides to greenlight one, and whether it will be Columbus's proposed project or something else.

The Gremlins Franchise Can Go in Many Different Directions

The idea of gremlins isn't limited to the franchise of course. The idea first coalesced among British fighter pilots in World War II, who attributed malfunctions in their planes to mischievous little goblins who sabotaged them. That led to author Roald Dahl penning his first children's novel, The Gremlins, in 1943, as part of a proposed animated feature for Walt Disney Pictures that never came to pass. Warner Bros. picked up on the idea and ran with it in a pair of animated shorts. 1943's "Falling Hare" depicts Bugs Bunny tangling with a mischievous gremlin aboard an airborne plane.

The more overtly political "Russian Rhapsody" premiered a year later, and involves Adolf Hitler personally piloting a bomber to Russia only to be destroyed by "Gremlins from the Kremlin." 20 years later, The Twilight Zone released one of its all-time greatest episodes in "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet," where William Shatner's nervous flier thinks he spots a gremlin tampering with the plane's engines. Much of that has been eclipsed by the two Dante Gremlins movies, which remain pop culture's go-to definition of the creatures. However, they demonstrate the kinds of stories one can tell with the concept, which Secrets of the Mogwai has fully embraced.

The inaugural season depicts Gizmo's first meeting with Sam Wing -- the old curio shop owner from the movies -- as a 10-year-old boy in 1920s Shanghai. Subsequent seasons could explore other parts of the franchise's history, as could a potential Gremlins 3. World War II, in particular, would make a tempting era to explore, as the franchise delivered its take on the creatures' formative roots. Secrets of the Mogwai's success -- as a prequel set in a colorful point in the past -- could push the franchise in that direction instead of revisiting the first two movies.

As Columbus frames it, however, those possibilities would need to be curtailed in favor of moving back to the central narrative of the original film. Galligan's statements indicate as much too, with his character Billy Peltzer returning once more to give his little friend Gizmo a hand. Doing so would require a shift in tone and approach from Secrets of the Mogwai, and potentially be seen as a step backwards.

Other Creative Forces Are Involved in a Possible Gremlins 3

In addition to shifting back to film, legitimate creative differences may be in play as well. Much of the talk of a Gremlins 3 stems from Columbus, who has a strong vision for the movie and has been pursuing it diligently for years. Dante, who directed the first two movies, has a creative vision of his own, and it differs quite a bit from Columbus'. The latter is reportedly not a fan of Gremlins 2, which Dante directed but Columbus was uninvolved with. That film became a cult classic for its overtly satirical tone, which not only mocked the original Gremlins but the corporate thinking that demanded a need for a sequel in the first place. Both Dante and Columbus initially considered the first film a stand-alone story without the need for any more.

Columbus's script reportedly returns the franchise to the comparative darkness of the first film. More specifically, it explores the question of Gizmo's status as the source of all gremlins, and whether or not ending his existence is justified if it would put an end to the scaly monsters for good. It's an intriguing premise and could make for a very strong Gremlins 3, especially if Columbus was to direct as well as write. Unfortunately, that contrasts with Secrets of the Mogwai in ways both big and small. For starters, the show reveals that Gizmo is far from the only Mogwai in the universe, and it likely contains its share of scaly gremlins as well as cuddly Mogwai. Dante serves as a creative consultant for the series, and it certainly reflects a gentler tone than what Columbus has expressed for Gremlins 3.

The series also establishes new details for the universe and how its titular creatures work within it, which would require a rethink of Columbus's proposed theme at the very minimum. Both Columbus and Dante have legitimate claim to the franchise's legacy, but their ideas are sufficiently different to make a single path forward difficult in the extreme. The franchise could accommodate both a third movie and additional seasons of Secrets of the Mogwai, but given the vision laid out for each, they might not be compatible. With Secrets of the Mogwai already released and attendant changes to the canon arriving with it, Gremlins 3 as it has been proposed probably can't happen. That's enough to keep the project in limbo for at least a little while longer.

The first season of Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai is now streaming on Max.

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  Gremlins

  A young man inadvertently breaks three important rules concerning his new pet and unleashes a horde of malevolently mischievous monsters on a small town.

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  Gremlins 2: The New Batch

  The Gremlins are back, and this time, they've taken control of a New York City media mogul's high-tech skyscraper.

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  Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai

  Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai is an animated television series that serves as a prequel to the classic 1984 movie Gremlins. Starring Izaac Wang as Sam Wing, the show explores Gizmo's origins before the events of the first movie. Ming-Na Wen, James Hong, BD Wong, Sandra Oh, and George Takei also provide voice work for the series, along with Gremlins star Zach Galligan.