‘Gremlins’ Reboot Will Be Along the Lines of ‘Jurassic World’

The Gremlins reboot has been in development for years now, and last we heard, the new installment in the franchise won’t be a remake, nor will it have the involvement of original director Joe Dante. That’s both good and bad news, but original writer and producer Chris Columbus is quite protective of the property, and while it won’t be a remake, it will take inspiration from the biggest film of the year.

Following a screening of Gremlins at London’s Prince Charles Cinema (via Games Radar), original star Zach Galligan participated in a Q&A, where the topic of the reboot predictably came up. Reiterating Columbus’ previous statements, Galligan said:

It’s not going to be a reboot. It will not be a remake in any way, shape, or form. Chris Columbus has come out and said that the first film is very near and dear to his heart and as long as he is alive it will never be remade.

In fact, it will take a page from the Jurassic Park handbook, as Galligan reveals that the new sequel is partially inspired by the success of Jurassic World, which was both a sequel and a reboot of sorts:

So the only thing they will be – and apparently are going to be – doing is something along the lines of like Jurassic World, where it will be 30 years later.

That seems to indicate that Galligan may be reprising his role as Billy Peltzer, the protagonist of the 1984 classic and its totally bonkers sequel. You probably shouldn’t hold your breath for an appearance from Phoebe Cates, though, as the actress has mostly retired, resurfacing only once in the past 20 years to appear in 2001’s The Anniversary Party as a favor to her friends, Alan Cumming and Jennifer Jason Leigh.

As for the Gremlins reboot, Columbus hired Seth Grahame-Smith to write a new screenplay earlier this year. Grahame-Smith is the author of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and the screenwriter of the upcoming Beetlejuice sequel. He was also recently tapped to write and direct The Flash movie for WB. It’s unclear if Grahame-Smith’s Gremlins script is still in play, but the latest update from Galligan gives us an indication of where they’re heading with the reboot.

Jurassic World quickly became the highest-grossing film of 2015, though it was poorly received by critics and derided for its over-dependence on CG and shoddy character development. Hopefully the Gremlins reboot is learning the right lessons from that film, and given Columbus’ cautious development of the project over the years, it seems like there’s still hope for this thing to turn out okay — not that we particularly want it to happen, but it’s happening either way.