More than six months ago, Joe Dante confirmed that the Gremlins reboot was finally making its way out of development hell and would likely be coming to fruition sooner than we may have thought. This (along with Gremlins 3) is a project that has had so many false starts that its timeline is difficult to keep track of. But today brings the news that things are continuing to move forward. In fact, we have learned that Warner Brothers has tapped Carl Ellsworth, the writer of the forthcoming Goosebumps feature film, to pen the screenplay. The original feature was scripted by Chris Columbus and executive produced by Steven Spielberg, with Joe Dante at the helm.
Columbus and Spielberg are on board to produce the reboot, according to Deadline. The article also suggest that Columbus may have been planning to direct at one point but is not currently signed on to do so.
Gremlins tells the story of a young boy who is given an adorable Mogwai named Gizmo as a gift. Along with the present, he is given three important rules: Do not get him wet, do not feed him after midnight, and do not expose him to bright light. Of course, the rules are broken and Gizmo spawns a colony of relatives that make all kinds of violent mischief for the entire town.