Gremlins 3 has been one of the most in-demand sequels in recent cinematic history, but will the project ever actually happen? Starting with the release of 1984’s Gremlins, the iconic ’80s franchise follows a young man named Billy Peltzer who is gifted a strange creature known as a Mogwai. Chaos ensues soon after when Billy fails to heed the strict rules of owning such a creature, and a roving band of Gremlins invades his sleepy town around Christmas. Noted for its eye-popping mechanical effects and director Joe Dante’s black humor, Gremlins quickly became an archetypal ’80s classic.

Amid a slew of ripoffs like the Ghoulies and Critters franchises, a lone Gremlins sequel was released in 1990, subtitled The New Batch. While the sequel has since become a cult classic and revered for its skewering of vapid ’80s culture and the rise of technology, it failed to move the needle both critically and financially and put an end to the burgeoning franchise. In the more than three decades since, fans have been clamoring for more Gremlins, and with the rise of ’80s legacy sequels, the time has never been better for Gremlins 3 to take shape.

Despite being an unconfirmed project, updates surrounding the threequel have been plentiful, with the latest news being a confident Gremlins 3 update from Zach Galligan. The star of both Gremlins movies has been a champion of the trilogy capper for years, and now Galligan is sure that the recent success of the animated series Secrets of the Mogwai is proof a live-action movie is coming.

“I can’t really figure out why Warner Bros. would do 2 seasons…of the animated series…unless there was some kind of endgame” said Galligan, “usually the endgame for a huge studio…is a live-action film. A live-action film is always where you’re going to make the most money“. While Galligan’s logic is sound, Warner Bros. Discovery has not made any moves toward a live-action film.

Despite years of speculation and even a few serious talks from filmmakers like Christopher Columbus, Gremlins 3 is not an official project yet. The recent success of the animated series Secrets of the Mogwai is further proof that the franchise still has a strong base of popularity, but that was never really in jeopardy. Though legacy sequels like Top Gun: Maverick and shows like Cobra Kai confirm the ’80s are still in vogue, Warner Bros. has given Gremlins 3 a wide berth.