Chris Columbus Says That Gremlins 3 Is Being Held Up By Rights Issues

We’re just over a month away from Christmas, meaning that tons of people around the world are going to be dusting off their collection of holiday favorites, and one of the first titles on the list for a lot of fans will no doubt be Joe Dante’s Gremlins. The beloved horror comedy was a massive box office success when it first hit theaters in the summer of 1984, bringing in over $212 million on a budget of just $11 million, and has since endured for close to four decades as a cult classic.

A sequel arrived six years later, but self-aware and meta follow-up The New Batch bombed hard, failing to even recoup the $50 million production costs despite gaining solid reviews. Over the last 30 years, talk of a third installment has never strayed too far from the conversation, but despite numerous attempts to get Gremlins 3 off the ground, it still hasn’t happened yet.

HBO Max’s Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai is on course to arrive next year, and the 1920s-set series will act as a prequel to the feature films, but original writer Chris Columbus still hasn’t given up on the idea of a direct continuation of the mythology that was last seen in The New Batch. In a recent interview, the Home Alone and Mrs. Doubtfire director reiterated his desire to make the project, but admitted that the complicated rights issues are just one of many problems to overcome in an effort to bring Gremlins 3 to fruition.

“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.”

If Secrets of the Mogwai turns out to be a success on HBO Max, then Gremlins 3‘s chances of finally getting made will greatly increase. However, Warner Bros. should definitely make sure that Columbus is involved in at least some capacity, given how he feels about Ryan Reynolds’ R-rated Home Alone reboot.