A horror franchise that’s grossed $205 million at the box office still hasn’t had a sequel in over 30 years, and that might not change any time soon, the first movie’s screenwriter indicates in a disappointing new update.

Horror series popular in the 1980s and 1990s have gotten more than their share of reboots, revivals and sequels in recent years. Friday the 13th, Evil ᴅᴇᴀᴅ, Halloween, Poltergeist: all have given fans new installments, with varying results.

But there’s one big 1980s horror franchise that still hasn’t been brought back, except in animated form, and it’s possible that the wait for a proper sequel will continue for quite some time.

Gremlins 3 Gets A Disappointing Update From Chris Columbus

Chris Columbus has been hard at work for years writing Gremlins 3, but the $205 million horror franchise follow-up he’s helping create is still in its pupal (not putrid) stage, waiting to burst forth and terrorize the world anew. Columbus was the writer for the first Gremlins movie, but did not write the script for the bonkers Gremlins 2, which was penned by Charles S. Haas.

Now Columbus is back penning Gremlins 3, a task he’s been at for an extended period of time, with no end in sight, as he indicated recently when asked for a status update on the long-awaited sequel, which is confirmed to be in the works (via Total Film/Games Radar):

“There’s a bunch of scripts for Gremlins. I mean, nothing has been approved. We’re working on something, but we’re always [working on something]. Gremlins is a never-ending writing ᴀssignment.”

Our Take On Columbus’ Gremlins 3 Update

Columbus’ latest update comes a few weeks after Gremlins star Zach Galligan told a Comic Con Manchester audience that the franchise continuation was still on, but was waiting on executive producer Steven Spielberg to approve a script:

“After 35 years, they’ve come up with a script. Warner Bros. is incredibly interested in doing it, apparently it’s waiting on Mr. Spielberg to read it and approve it.”

Columbus’ new remarks indicate that there are multiple Gremlins 3 scripts out there, and that work on the movie basically never stops. There is indeed studio interest in getting the Gremlins franchise back up and running, but Spielberg also has a big say in whether and when those wheels truly get turning.

Until Spielberg sees a screenplay he likes, Gremlins 3 will remain just a dream, and the HBO Max original Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai will remain the only franchise offering released since 1990’s Gremlins 2: The New Batch (not counting video games, books, etc.,).

Gremlins would seem a perfect franchise to revive, even all these years after the last movie came out. The first two films have a cult following, and Gremlins 2 in particular has a lot of admirers, given its insane meta-movie take on sequel mania.

The pitch for Gremlins 3 likely won’t be as crazy as the pitch for Gremlins 2 as imagined by Key and Peele in a famous sketch, but hopefully it will contain enough good ideas to impress Spielberg, and the suits at WB, allowing work to move forward.