It is time to look at everything we know about the cast and release of a potential Gremlins 3.
After first kicking off with the Christmas classic Gremlins in 1984, the franchise continued into Gremlins 2: The New Batch in 1990; however, the evil light-fearing mogwai have been out of commission on the big screen for over three decades.
Is Gremlins 3 Really Happening?
Following a recent spread of fan-made Gremlins 3 posters and trailers on various social media platforms in late 2023, fans have become more excited for the developing Gremlins threequel, eager to know the latest on the movie.
Gremlins 3 has been in the works for a long time, even by Hollywood standards. It was first reported in 2013 by Vulture that a Gremlins reboot was in the early stages of development at Warner Bros., delivering a new take on the creepy critters over 20 years after Gremlins 2: The New Batch.
Bloody Disgusting reported a few months later The Lego Batman Movie writer Seth Grahame-Smith was tapped to produce the new Gremlins movie, working with It producer David Katzenberg.
Then, in 2015, Gremlins and Gremlins 2 star Zach Galligan indicated the new movie would be titled Gremlins 3, telling Den of Geek it would continue the same story as the original films rather than acting as a reboot or remake.
Additionally, Galligan revealed to Bleeding Cool in 2016 that original Gremlins director Chris Columbus has been "aggressively working on a Gremlins 3" that would take place in the present day.
The most recent update on the movie came from Columbus himself in 2020, letting slip in a conversation with Collider that he would "love to do it" and that a script exists for the film:
"I would love to do it. I wrote a script, so there is an existing script. We’re working out some rights issues right now, so we’re just trying to figure out when the best time to make that film would be. I would still do it the same way – I would do it as tangible puppets, not CGI. Maybe having — you know we had one stop-motion scene in the first 'Gremlins,' but I don’t think I’d use much CGI in 'Gremlins 3.'"
When Could Gremlins 3 Release?
Gremlins 3 appears to be in development hell and has not made any tangible process in the last three years.
Considering that, if the movie does ever officially go into development (eventually) and production, it most likely would not be released in theaters until late 2025 at the very earliest.
What Would Gremlins 3's Story Be About?
Speaking with Slashfilm in 2017, Columbus explained that his Gremlins 3 script returns to the same macabre tone seen in the original movie, which pressured the MPAA to create the PG-13 rating in 1984.
Columbus was "really proud of the script," noting that it was "as twisted and dark as anything" and that the biggest concern for production was the conversations about the budget:
"I'm really proud of the script. 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."
Galligan also shared with Bleeding Cool that there was an idea to have the story take place in Las Vegas at one point, although the studio decided that would be too expensive to develop:
"[For 'Gremlins 2'], one of the ideas that was rejected was 'gremlins in Vegas' they went with that for 18 months and felt it was too expensive."
For reference, Gremlins 2 ended with Gizmo living with Zach Galligan's Billy and Phoebe Cates' Kate. Greta also becomes the only survivor in a new batch of gremlins, approaching Robert Picardo's Forster at the end of the film in a wedding gown as she tries to marry him.
With the Gremlins 3 story likely taking place so long after that movie, it is hard to tell where exactly the story would go from there, especially taking into account who may or may not return for the sequel
Who Would Be Cast In Gremlins 3?
In Galligan's chat with Bleeding Cool, he teased Columbus had plans for multiple new characters to star in Gremlins 3 along with a few old characters from the first two movies similar to how Star Wars did with Episode VII: The Force Awakens in 2015:
"[Columbus] tantalisingly says there will be some NEW characters and some OLD characters – I guess in the style of a 'Force Awakens' type sequel"
While a few cast members from Gremlins 2 such as Christopher Lee, Tony Randall, and Robert Prosky passed away in the time since the last film, comebacks could be on the table for a few original stars.
With the last movie setting up Gizmo to live with Billy and Kate, Gremlins 3 would most likely bring back both Galligan and Cates, even though Cates has mostly left Hollywood behind with only two credits on her resume since 1994.
There is also a slight chance that Howie Mandel could come back to voice Gizmo. He is still quite active with his hosting role on America's Got Talent, and considering it would likely only be a voiceover role, it would not take all that much time from Mandel's busy schedule to record.
While the rest of the cast is still a complete unknown, there would surely be plenty of stars itching to get in on a continuation of this story, especially with an entirely new generation of actors who grew up with the first few movies in play.
As of now, Gremlins 3 isn't officially slated to go into production or be released.
