The Mogwai are going to stay hidden a little longer.
Warner Bros. has moved its new Gremlins movie from November 19, 2027 to October 6, 2028, delaying the long-awaited franchise return by nearly 11 months. The studio confirmed the new theatrical date on September 23 with a simple teaser announcing, “10.6.28. Only In Theaters.”
No reason for the delay has been publicly announced. The move is part of a broader Warner Bros. calendar reshuffle that also pushed DC Studios’ animated Dynamic Duo from June to September 2028. Deadline reported that the release-date changes are unrelated to Warner Bros. Discovery’s pending transaction with Paramount.
For Gremlins, however, the new date may actually fit the franchise surprisingly well.
Gremlins moves from Thanksgiving season to October
The original November 2027 date positioned the movie just before the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, an interesting choice for a franchise whose first film famously takes place around Christmas.
The new October 6, 2028 slot pushes the sequel directly into the Halloween movie season instead.
That is a natural home for Gremlins, which has always existed somewhere between family fantasy, creature horror and anarchic comedy. The first film begins with the adorable Gizmo but quickly transforms into a monster movie once the rules surrounding the Mogwai are broken.
Warner Bros.’ move amounts to a 322-day delay, but it also gives the studio a much clearer seasonal marketing hook: Gremlins back in theaters just as horror audiences start looking for October releases.
Whether that was the primary reason behind the move has not been confirmed.
Chris Columbus is returning to the franchise he helped create
The strongest reason to remain interested in the new film has not changed with the delay.
Chris Columbus will direct and produce the movie, returning to the property more than four decades after writing the screenplay for the original 1984 Gremlins. Amblin confirms that Columbus’ original spec script became his first produced feature screenplay, with Joe Dante directing and Steven Spielberg executive producing.
Spielberg is returning as executive producer on the new installment. Hannah Marks is writing the current screenplay from an earlier draft by Columbus, Final Destination: Bloodlines filmmakers Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein.
That makes the project something more substantial than a revival carrying only the franchise name. One of the people who originally created the movie’s rules, characters and tone will now be directing a Gremlins film for the first time.
The wait between Gremlins movies will now exceed 38 years
The release change also makes an already extraordinary sequel gap even longer.
Gremlins 2: The New Batch opened on June 15, 1990. Amblin describes the sequel as Joe Dante’s deliberately anarchic follow-up, while Box Office Mojo records a $41.5 million domestic run.
If Warner Bros. keeps the new October 2028 date, more than 38 years will separate the second and third theatrical Gremlins movies.
The property itself has not been completely dormant. The animated prequel series Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai, later continued as Gremlins: The Wild Batch, expanded Gizmo’s story on television. But the new Columbus film will mark the franchise’s first live-action feature since 1990.
There are still major unanswered questions. Warner Bros. has not disclosed the movie’s official title, plot or cast, meaning even returning characters such as Gizmo, Billy Peltzer or Kate Beringer have not all been formally detailed through the studio’s latest announcement.
So Gremlins 3 has moved further away—but not back into development limbo.
For a franchise whose rules include avoiding bright light and never feeding its creatures after midnight, an October release might ultimately feel more appropriate than the date Warner Bros. originally chose.
