Lionsgate and WWE Studios officially announced plans to work together on a Leprechaun reboot in March, 2012. It was pretty quickly revealed that Dylan "Hornswoggle" Postl would star and Harris Wilkinson was hired to write the script. It now looks like the project is set to go into production soon, as a director has been hired.
According to The Wrap, Zach Lipovsky will direct the reboot that was previously described as a darker and more serious version that the previous installments:
“The tone is going to be a little darker, a little more traditional horror than the Warwick Davis ones that people remember, trying to find a way to please fans of that genre but at the same time this is really being played for scares.”
While the movie had been referred to previously as Leprechaun: Origins, it isn't supposed to tie directly to the original movies. The plot details have been kept secret, so we'll have to wait to find out what direction they'll be taking this movie. Here is the original announcement posted by WWE Studios last year:
“As first reported by Variety, WWE Studios is joining forces with Lionsgate for a two-film slate, the first of which will be a reboot of the hit “Leprechaun” franchise. “Leprechaun: Origins” will star WWE’s own mischievous Superstar Hornswoggle making his feature film debut, proving the old adage that there truly are no small parts, only small actors. A writer or director has yet to be announced.
The comedic horror series got its start in 1993, and starred Warwick Davis in the titular role. It also launched the career of “Friends” megastar Jennifer Aniston in her first major part. Five sequels followed, creating a cult favorite series. The formidable tag team of Lionsgate and WWE Studios – the same pairing responsible for “See No Evil” starring Kane and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin’s “The Condemned” – will share production costs and the development of marketing strategies for the relaunched franchise. Lionsgate will lead the distribution efforts.
Hornswoggle, a WWE fixture since 2006, will grace the silver screen for the first time. The master of the Tadpole Splash and former (and final) WWE Cruiserweight Champion, ‘Swoggle has also been the official mascot of D-Generation X. This Sunday, he will be the flag-bearer for Team Teddy in the huge WrestleMania battle with Team Johnny for General Managerial control of both Raw and SmackDown
The newly announced star played a game of “Hide and Tweet” at WrestleMania Axxess on Thursday, encouraging members of the WWE Universe to locate the diminuative grappler and discover the so-called #swogglesecret, which turned out to be his involvement with Leprechaun: Origins.”
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