GREMLINS 3 Waiting for "Spielberg's Approval"

[AndyDursin]

Please...make it stop...

“Gremlins” lead actor Zach Galligan recently said during an appearance at Comic Con Manchester (via Games Radar) that Warner Bros. is “incredibly interested” in “Gremlins 3.” Not only that, but the script is allegedly on the desk of executive producer Steven Spielberg and awaiting his sign-off. Galligan played the lead role of Billy Peltzer in 1984’s “Gremlins” and 1990’s “Gremlins 2: The New Batch.”

“After 35 years, they’ve come up with a script,” Galligan told the audience. “Warner Bros. is incredibly interested in doing it, apparently it’s waiting on Mr. Spielberg to read it and approve it. But you can thank the success of ‘Beetlejiuce Beetlejuice.'”

Variety has reached out to Warner Bros. for further comment.

https://variety.com/2025/film/news/grem ... 236473690/

[TaranofPrydain]

Yet another unnecessary sequel..... Gremlins 2 in 1990 was a bliss-out, far better than #1, but that was 35 years ago, a time when blockbusters, even sequels, felt more organic than now, where everything is so dull.

[Paul MacLean]

Will Spielberg allow Joe Dante to direct?

[Monterey Jack]

I blame the massive success of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice for this.

[AndyDursin]

Will Spielberg allow Joe Dante to direct?

Spielberg might but Warner probably wouldn't, he's almost 80 and hasn't directed a studio movie since LOONEY TUNES BACK IN ACTION (over 22 years ago now!). And only two small indie horror films after that. He has tried making other movies since then though (to no avail).

The list of unproduced Dante projects is vast. One of my favorite stories of his was THE PHANTOM, which he developed with Jeffrey Boam writing. They eventually left the movie, and years later Simon Wincer came in, apparently unaware it was supposed to be funny. The film got made with Boam's script -- but with all the humor removed -- which is why it feels so "weird" for lack of a better term. Like it's a spoof that doesn't know that it is one!

[Monterey Jack]

Spielberg might but Warner probably wouldn't, he's almost 80 and hasn't directed a studio movie since LOONEY TUNES BACK IN ACTION (over 22 years ago now!). And only two small indie horror films after that. He has tried making other movies since then though (to no avail).

Tim Burton's 66, and when WB allowed him to go "old-school" on his Beetlejuice sequel (cramming it with puppetry, stop-motion and practical makeup effects, only resorting to CGI whenever absolutely necessary), it resulted in a sizable box office hit. Granted, Dante's been "out of the game" a lot longer, and his last handful of studio pictures (Matinee, Small Soldiers, Looney Tunes) all tanked, but you'd think, if studios were going to continue strip-mining the genre cinema of the 1980s apparently forever, they'd want the originators of said franchises to be involved. Yeah, Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull was heavily flawed, but we all saw how much worse the next Indiana Jones movie was sans the spry camerawork of Steven Spielberg. The last thing we need are CGI Gremlins scuttering around who refuse to acknowledge gender pronouns.

[AndyDursin]

That's the thing, Burton may be 66 but his career has never stopped. Dante is basically retired and it's been decades since he directed an actual studio picture...and really nothing good since MATINEE. And that was over 30 years ago now.