Warner Bros. has delayed “Gremlins 3” by nearly a year, moving the long-awaited horror-comedy sequel from Nov. 19, 2027, to Oct. 6, 2028. The studio revealed the change with a very short teaser featuring Gizmo, the small Mogwai who became the face of the franchise more than four decades ago.
The change means audiences will have to wait almost 11 additional months for the third theatrical movie in the series.
The teaser does not reveal the story. It shows Gizmo moving inside a backpack before the new release date appears. Warner Bros. has not announced a reason for the delay, and there is no confirmed indication that the film is facing production trouble.
Variety reported that Chris Columbus will direct and produce the movie. Columbus wrote the original “Gremlins,” which was released in 1984, but he did not direct either of the first two films. Joe Dante directed both “Gremlins” and its 1990 sequel, “Gremlins 2: The New Batch.”
Steven Spielberg is returning as an executive producer. Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment was also involved with the original movie, and his return gives the new project a direct connection to the people who helped establish the franchise.
The screenplay is still being developed. Hannah Marks is writing the current script from an earlier draft by Columbus, Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein. Lipovsky and Stein previously directed “Final Destination Bloodlines.”
Warner Bros. has not announced the main cast.
That leaves several major questions unanswered. There is no confirmed word on whether Zach Galligan will return as Billy Peltzer, whether Phoebe Cates will appear again as Kate Beringer, or whether Howie Mandel will once again provide Gizmo’s voice. The studio has also not released an official plot description.
TheWrap reported that the new date was announced as part of a Warner Bros. scheduling change. Another Warner Bros. project, DC Studios’ animated “Dynamic Duo,” was also moved on the release calendar.
The new October date places “Gremlins 3” closer to Halloween than its previous November release. That timing fits the franchise’s unusual combination of horror, comedy and family entertainment, although Warner Bros. has not said that Halloween positioning was the reason for the move.
The original “Gremlins” arrived in theaters on June 8, 1984. The story followed Billy, a young man who receives a mysterious creature called a Mogwai as a gift. The Mogwai, named Gizmo, comes with a strict set of rules that are soon broken.
The rules are central to the series. A Mogwai must be kept away from bright light and water, and it must not be fed after midnight. Water causes Mogwai to reproduce, while feeding the creatures after midnight can transform them into destructive gremlins.
The first film mixed Christmas imagery, comedy and creature horror in a way that was unusual for a major studio release at the time. It became a major box-office success and developed a large following that continued long after its theatrical run.
The movie also became part of the debate that led to the creation of the PG-13 rating. “Gremlins” and “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” were both released in 1984 and were considered more intense than many parents expected from PG-rated films. The PG-13 category was introduced later that year.
“Gremlins 2: The New Batch” followed in 1990. The sequel moved much of the action into a high-tech skyscraper and leaned further into comedy and satire. It earned much less at the box office than the first movie but later developed a strong cult following.
A third theatrical film has been discussed for years.
Warner Bros. Discovery finally announced the new movie in 2025. At that time, the studio placed it on the calendar for November 2027 and confirmed that Columbus and Spielberg would return.
The Los Angeles Times reported that Warner Bros. used the new teaser to announce the delay. The clip gives viewers only a brief look at Gizmo and does not show other characters or major scenes.
The date card shown by Warner Bros. reads “10.6.28,” which matches the Oct. 6, 2028, date reported by Variety, TheWrap and other entertainment publications. One Los Angeles Times article listed Oct. 8 in its text, but the studio’s own date card and multiple industry reports point to Oct. 6.
The brief appearance of Gizmo is still notable because Warner Bros. has revealed almost nothing visually about the film. It also gives fans their first indication of how the famous character may look in the new production.
One question will be how much the movie relies on practical creature effects. The original films became known for elaborate puppets and animatronics rather than computer-generated characters. Columbus has spoken in earlier interviews about wanting physical puppets to remain important if another “Gremlins” movie were made.
The studio has not yet detailed the effects approach for the finished film.
The franchise has remained active outside theaters. The animated series “Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai” premiered in 2023 and explored an earlier period in Gizmo’s story. That series helped introduce the property to viewers who were born long after the two theatrical movies were released.
If the new date holds, “Gremlins 3” will arrive 44 years after the original film and 38 years after “Gremlins 2.”
That makes it one of Hollywood’s longer gaps between major theatrical installments in an established franchise. It also means the filmmakers will have to balance nostalgia for the original movies with an audience that may know Gizmo mainly through animation, games, merchandise or streaming.
For now, the biggest confirmed news is simply that the movie is still moving forward, but later than previously planned.
Warner Bros. has given audiences a new date and a glimpse of Gizmo. The title, story and cast remain largely under wraps, leaving much of “Gremlins 3” unknown more than two years before its scheduled release.