Joe Dante's seminal horror comedy Gremlins celebrated its 30th anniversary last summer and its underrated sequel, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, will have its 25th birthday this June. The anniversaries of these two memorable creature features may have many remembering the franchise and wishing for that third installment that never was. Though a Zach Galligan-starring Gremlins 3 sadly never came to fruition, a remake has been in and out of the works for quite some time and was recently presumed to be dead. But Warner Bros. looks to be resurrecting the project, as they've hired a writer to scribe the remake, one who has lent his pen to both the hardcore horror and horror comedy sub-genres.
According to /Film, Warner Bros. has hired Carl Ellsworth to pen the Gremlins remake, with Chris Columbus and Steven Spielberg are producing the project. Many fans will remember that Columbus wrote and Spielberg executive produced the original Gremlins.
Ellsworth recently co-wrote the upcoming Goosebumps feature film (now due out in theaters on October 16th) based on R. L. Stine's enduring book series, and he also lent his pen to the respective screenplays for Red Eye, The Last House on the Left remake, and Disturbia, in addition to scribing the memorable "Halloween" season two episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
No further details about the remake are known at this time, but it will surely be tough to top Chris Walas' superb special effects, the natural chemistry between Galligan and Phoebe Cates, and Dante's sure-handed directing that made the original film so special. Stay tuned to Daily Dead for more updates on the Gremlins remake. For those unfamiliar with the 1984 classic, here's the synopsis and trailer:
"When a man brings home an adorable creature from Chinatown as a Christmas present for his son Billy, the shopkeeper's sage advice -- no snacks after, no water, mood lighting only -- goes unheeded. As a result, devilish green creatures with a million vices take over the small town on Christmas Eve."
Raised on a steady diet of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Derek has been fascinated with fear since he first saw ForeverWare being used on an episode of Eerie, Indiana.
When he’s not writing about horror as the Senior News Reporter for Daily Dead, Derek can be found daydreaming about the Santa Carla Boardwalk from The Lost Boys or reading Stephen King and Brian Keene novels.
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