After more than three decades of rumors, rewrites, and studio starts and stops, the gremlins are finally coming back to cause trouble again. Warner Bros. has announced that Gremlins 3 will hit theaters on November 19, 2027, marking the first full-length return of the franchise since 1990’s Gremlins 2: The New Batch.

Chris Columbus, who wrote the original 1984 holiday-horror classic, is stepping into the director’s chair this time around. Steven Spielberg will return as executive producer, bringing the franchise full circle with the same creative team that helped define its mix of dark humor, creature chaos, and small-town charm.

Joining Columbus are writers Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein, working from an earlier draft by Toby Halbrooks and Carl Ellsworth. Producers include Kristie Macosko Krieger, Holly Bario, Michael Barnathan, and Mark Radcliffe—all veterans of blockbuster filmmaking.

Warner Bros. confirmed the news alongside a statement that framed the film as both a return to form and a handoff to new audiences. Studio executives described the project as “a mix of magic, mayhem, and heart,” suggesting the film will balance nostalgia with a modern spin.

The road back to the big screen hasn’t been easy. Since Gremlins 2, the franchise has lived mostly through fan chatter and licensing deals. Over the years, Columbus has hinted that multiple versions of a third film were written but never approved. Now, with an official date locked in, the project appears to have real momentum.

The big question is what kind of Gremlins movie this will be. Will it lean back into the Christmas horror-comedy tone of the original, or chase the self-aware satire that made the sequel so weirdly beloved? Will familiar faces like Billy Peltzer (Zach Galligan) or Gizmo the Mogwai return?

For longtime fans, the announcement is reason enough to celebrate. The first Gremlins became a cult holiday favorite thanks to its mix of sweetness, slapstick, and subversive scares. Its rules—no water, no bright light, no feeding after midnight—are still quoted to this day. And with today’s advances in creature effects, there’s no telling what kind of mischief the Mogwai might get up to in 2027.

Whatever direction Columbus and Spielberg choose, Gremlins 3 has the potential to reintroduce one of the most mischievous movie monsters of the ’80s to a whole new generation.