Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein are learning why you don’t get a Mogwai wet.
The directing duo behind this summer’s horror hit Final Destination: Bloodlines have teamed up with Chris Columbus to write the new feature installment of Gremlins, Warner Bros.’ horror comedy franchise featuring little mischievous monsters, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
The development occurs as the feature project moves full steam ahead at Warners, with the studio announcing Thursday on an earnings call that it is dating the movie for Nov. 19, 2027.
Kristie Macosko Krieger and Holly Bario of Amblin Entertainment are producing the project, as are Columbus, Michael Barnathan and Mark Radcliffe via their banner, 26th Street Pictures. Steven Spielberg returns to executive produce.
Lipovsky and Stein are working with Columbus as a writing team. Columbus wrote the 1984 original (but sat out the 1990 sequel, Gremlins 2: The New Batch) and is slated to direct this new installment. A script by Columbus has been in development since at least 2017 — Toby Halbrooks and Carl Ellsworth wrote previous drafts — and the boarding of Lipovsky and Stein, who are very much in demand around Hollywood thanks to Bloodlines, is an electric charge for the project.
In talking about his to return to Gremlins, Columbus said to The Hollywood Reporter, “I’m filled with a tremendous surge of inspiration and passion, as I embark on this cinematic journey. It’s an honor to reunite with Steven Spielberg and Warner Bros., as we bring this latest chapter of Gremlins to a brand new generation of moviegoers who will experience all of the thrills of this grand adventure on the big screen”
“Few titles are as beloved and iconic as Gremlins, and we’re beyond excited to bring it back for both lifelong fans and a whole new generation,” said Jesse Ehrman, Warners’ president of development and production. “It’s a privilege to be working alongside Steven (Spielberg), Chris (Columbus), and the entire creative team, and we look forward to audiences experiencing the magic, mayhem, and heart of Gremlins on the big screen in 2027.”
With Bloodlines, Lipovsky and Stein reinvigorated a moribund Warners title, helming the first Final Destination movie in about 14 years. The movie, released in May, grossed $315.0 million worldwide on a budget of around $50 million, becoming not only the highest-grossing entry in the franchise but also the best-reviewed. The duo are known for their directing work, but the opportunity to work as writers on a movie series that was a childhood favorite to them both, and to work with Columbus, who also wrote 1980s classic The Goonies and directed Home Alone, was too good to pass up. Lipovsky and Stein have yet to pick their next directorial outing but are being heavily courted by studios.
The original Gremlins, directed by Joe Dante, told of a young man who receives a unique cute and furry creature as a present from his father and who names it Gizmo. The pet comes with three rules: keep it away from light, don’t let it come in contact with water, and don’t feed it after midnight. Of course, all those rules are broken and soon, all hell breaks loose in the hero’s small town, as not only new Mogwais appear, led by the nasty-tempered Stripe, but they then turn into reptilian killers as well.
The movie was released the same weekend as Ghostbusters, with both becoming hits and making their mark on 1980s pop culture. Dante came back for the sequel, but Columbus did not.
The franchise and IP went intoa cocoon for decades, but talk of an eventual third movie would pop up intermittently. In 2023, HBO Max released the animated series Gremlins: The Wild Batch. Dante was involved with the series and, last year, as the second season launched, he commented on the prospects of a third movie.
“That’s up to the audience,” he told THR about the chances of a third film. “The fact is that it’s too big a property for somebody not to make something. But it’s been difficult for people to wrap their heads around, ‘Exactly how are we going to do this?’”
Looks like Lipovsky and Stein, as well as Columbus and Warners, may have found an answer.
Lipovsky and Stein are repped by Verve, Ground Control and Lichter Grossman.
