Further proving that there is no \u201880s pop-culture franchise that Hollywood won\u2019t metaphorically feed after midnight, it was recently announced that we\u2019re getting a third\u00a0Gremlins<\/i> movie.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n According to\u00a0Variety<\/i><\/span><\/a>,\u00a0Gremlins 3<\/i> hits theaters in 2027. Steven Spielberg will return to executive produce the film, and it\u2019s being scripted by Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein, the duo behind\u00a0Final Destination: Bloodlines<\/i>. The director of the third\u00a0Gremlins<\/i> is Chris Columbus, who wrote the first movie and helmed others like\u00a0Home Alone, Mrs. Doubtfire<\/i> and\u00a0The Thursday Murder Club<\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n Conspicuously absent from the list of talent involved is Joe Dante, who directed both\u00a0Gremlins<\/i> and\u00a0Gremlins 2: The New Batch \u2013<\/i>\u00a0 and this omission sure didn\u2019t go over well with fans.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s a little shocking to propose making a third\u00a0Gremlins<\/i> movie without Dante\u2019s involvement (he was even\u00a0<\/span>a consulting producer<\/span><\/a> on the recent\u00a0Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai<\/i> animated series). Although he didn\u2019t write it, the\u00a0Matinee\u00a0<\/i>director\u2019s authorial stamp is all over the first movie. And Dante is a big reason why people are still interested in\u00a0Gremlins<\/i> at all, thanks to his gloriously unhinged sequel Gremlins 2: The New Batch<\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n Dante famously turned down the opportunity to direct a\u00a0Gremlins<\/i> follow-up since the first one\u00a0<\/span>was so \u201charrowing\u201d to make<\/span><\/a>, and also because \u201cthe movie didn\u2019t really need a sequel.\u201d But he eventually accepted after a desperate Warner Bros. offered him a bigger budget and \u201ccomplete creative control\u201d over the project, telling him \u201cas long as it has Gremlins in it you can do it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s not an offer that you very often get,\u201d Dante reasoned. \u201cI\u2019ve certainly never had it before or since.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n While\u00a0Gremlins 2: The New Batch<\/i> was a box office flop at the time, its gonzo sensibilities and sharp anti-corporate satire have aged extremely well. It\u2019s essentially an anti-sequel that spat in the face of its own manufactured existence, but has accumulated a massive cult following over the years. And, of course, it inspired a memorable\u00a0Key & Peele<\/i> sketch.<\/span><\/p>\n Columbus wasn\u2019t involved in the making of\u00a0Gremlins 2<\/i>. And while he did write the first movie, one early draft of his script ended with Gizmo the Mogwai sprouting wings and\u00a0<\/span>turning into a \u201cTinkerbell\u201d-like fairy before flying away.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n It\u2019s possible that Dante declined to be a part of this third movie, but then again, maybe he was purposefully excluded. Dante\u00a0<\/span>didn\u2019t have the best working relationship<\/span><\/a> with Warner Bros. back in 2003 when the company hired him to direct\u00a0Looney Tunes: Back in Action.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n