Carl Ellsworth Says His ‘Gremlins 3’ Script Explored the Mythology and History of the Gremlins

The beloved Gremlins franchise is *finally* coming back to life with brand new animated series “Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai,” which is likely to premiere on HBO Max later this year or sometime next year. Joe Dante, who directed Gremlins and Gremlins 2, is consulting on the series, which is set in China in the 1920s and serves as a prequel to the two movies.

An animated series sounds great and all, but what about another Gremlins feature film? Carl Ellsworth (Red Eye, Disturbia, The Last House on the Left, Unhinged) had been attached to write a script for a potential Gremlins 3 several years back, and he recalls that iteration of a feature film sequel in a new chat with Coming Soon‘s Michael Gingold this week.

For starters, Ellsworth says his idea for Gremlins 3 was to recapture the tone of the first film rather than its wackier sequel, describing it as a horror movie first and foremost. His vision was a “direct sequel mostly to the first film.” Ellsworth explains, “Not discounting the second one by any stretch, but I saw it as very much a passing-the-baton story, staying in the tone of the original.”

He continues, “These little creatures—what they’re really doing, they’re cold-blooded little murderers, you know? They’re psychotic little creatures that are killing everybody. So that’s where it all started. I tried to preserve the humor, but at the same time, I was starting with the foundation of this being a horror movie, which I was really thrilled about.”

Ellsworth also explains in the chat with Coming Soon that Gizmo was set to be “at the core of the story,” with his take on Gremlins 3 also bringing back Zach Galligan as Billy Peltzer and potentially even Phoebe Cates as girlfriend Kate Beringer. The ultimately unused script, he says, also “explored more of the mythology and the history of the Gremlins.”

At this time, a new Gremlins film does not seem to be in active development.

source https://bloody-disgusting.com/movie/3621101/carl-ellsworth-says-gremlins-3-script-explored-mythology-history-gremlins/