Bright green light! Bright green light! It’s finally happening. No matter how much we cried. No matter how much we begged. Most of us had accepted that we were never going to get another entry in the Gremlins franchise — until now. Gremlins 3 has officially been confirmed. Warner Bros. has announced that the Mogwai will return to the big screen on November 19, 2027, marking the first new live-action entry in the franchise in over three decades. And in a move sure to stir plenty of nostalgic excitement, original screenwriter Chris Columbus will be directing, with Steven Spielberg on board as executive producer.
The news came directly from Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav during a recent earnings call, marking the first time the studio has confirmed the project with a firm release date. Until now, talk of a new Gremlins installment had been mostly speculation, even though reports earlier this year suggested movement behind the scenes. Plot details remain tightly under wraps, so anyone hoping for an early glimpse will have to wait — no feeding after midnight here.
The screenplay is being written by Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein, the directing duo who brought fantastic ideas for a fantastic franchise recently with Final Destination: Bloodlines, working in collaboration with Columbus. There’s currently no word on whether Joe Dante, who directed both Gremlins and its wildly self-aware sequel Gremlins 2: The New Batch, will be involved in any capacity.
Talking of Gremlins 2, Quentin Tarantino has previously professed to being a huge fan of the sequel while appearing as a guest on Eli Roth’s History of Horror podcast, which you can listen to below:
Casting is still under wraps. Naturally, fans are wondering whether Zach Galligan might return as Billy Peltzer to reunite with Gizmo, but nothing has been confirmed. Back in July, Galligan did acknowledge that a script was complete and awaiting Spielberg’s approval, adding that the current wave of legacy sequels had helped push the project forward.
It’s been a long road to get here. The original Gremlins became a major hit in 1984, taking in more than $150 million domestically on an $11 million budget. Its 1990 sequel, Gremlins 2, took a wilder, more self-aware approach and underperformed at the time, but has since earned cult status. Attempts to continue the franchise stalled for decades, even as interest never really went away. More recently, the universe re-emerged in animated form with “Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai” on HBO Max, followed by a second season titled “Gremlins: The New Batch.”
For now, all we have is the confirmation, the creative team, the release date, and the promise that something mischievous this way comes. Whether we’ll see familiar faces, new caretakers, or a whole new set of rules remains to be seen. But after decades of waiting, the Mogwai are officially coming back — let’s just make sure the announcement paperwork doesn’t get wet.
