Gremlins

Setting

Mogwai

The mogwai are the central species of the franchise, based on eponymous creatures in Chinese folklore. Their volatility is such that whoever comes across one must adhere to three specific rules: A mogwai must not to be exposed to light, especially sunlight, which is lethal to the species; it must not come into contact with water, which results in its multiplication ability; and above all, it must not be fed after midnight, which results in its evolution into a Gremlin, adopting a more reptilian appearance than its mogwai form.

Films

Gremlins (1984)

Gremlins, released June 8, 1984, was directed by Joe Dante, written by Chris Columbus, and produced by Michael Finnell; and stars Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Hoyt Axton, Polly Holliday and Frances Lee McCain, with Howie Mandel providing the voice of Gizmo.

Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)

Gremlins 2: The New Batch, the sequel to Gremlins, was released on June 15, 1990. Like the first film, it was directed by Dante, with Charles S. Haas writing the screenplay. Galligan, Cates, Keye Luke, Dick Miller and Jackie Joseph reprise their roles, with Mandel once again voicing Gizmo.

Gremlins 3 (2027)

In January 2013, Vulture reported that Warner Bros. was negotiating with Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment to reboot the Gremlins franchise. Seth Grahame-Smith was tapped to produce, alongside David Katzenberg. However, Grahame-Smith has since stated that the project has been put on hold. In November 2015, Zach Galligan confirmed that the third film will be a sequel and not a reboot.

In a December 2016 interview with Bleeding Cool, Galligan said that Chris Columbus had been "aggressively working on a Gremlins 3", which had writer Carl Ellsworth on board. A 2017 interview with Columbus discussed his "twisted and dark" script which explored the idea that has been on the fans' minds for a long time: "If all the gremlins come from getting Gizmo wet and feeding his mogwai offspring after midnight, should Gizmo be eliminated?" In November 2020, Columbus stated that CGI would not be used for the gremlins and that traditional puppets and animatronics would continue to be used.

In January 2025, it was reported by Deadline that Warner Bros. was developing a third Gremlins movie written and directed by Chris Columbus who was also writing a sequel to The Goonies. On April 11, 2025, a sequel was confirmed by Warner Bros. On November 6, 2025, it was reported that the second sequel has a release date of November 19, 2027. The script will be co-written by Columbus, Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein.

Other media

Animated prequel series

The CGI animated prequel series Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai debuted with the launch of HBO Max on May 23, 2023. Serving as a prequel to the films, the series focuses on the young Sam Wing and his adventures with Gizmo.

Books

Gremlins was adapted into a novelization by George Gipe, published by Avon Books in June 1984. The novel offered an origin for mogwai and gremlins as a prologue. Supposedly, mogwai were created as gentle, contemplative creatures by a scientist on an alien world. However, it was discovered their physiology was unstable. The result was only 1 in 10,000 mogwai would retain their sweet, loving demeanor. The rest would change into creatures the novel referred to as "mischievous". The minority mogwai (the 1 in 10,000) are immortal by human standards, though Gizmo explains to Stripe if he were to undergo the transformation himself, he would become like the others, "short lived and violent". This origin is unique to the novel but is referred to in the novelization of Gremlins 2 by David Bischoff. No definitive origin for mogwai or gremlins is given in either Gremlins film. The novelization contains a subplot that was cut from the original film, where the National Guard plans to neutralize the gremlins with fire hoses.

A comic book adaptation of Gremlins was published by Western Publishing in 1984.

There were also children's books like Gremlins 2: The New Batch: Movie Storybook, by Michael Teitelbaum, published by Goldencraft in December 1990. Little Golden Books published Gremlins 2: The New Batch: Gizmo to the Rescue in July 1990. In the United Kingdom, William Heinemann Ltd. had published two tie-in picture books from Buzz Books in August 1990 which contains photographs and scenes taken from the film. They were titled Don't Get Wet and Midnight Feast. David Bischoff wrote a novel based on the film published by Avon Books in June 1990. A unique aspect of the novel is how Bischoff adapts the sequence where the film breaks. In the novel, the Brain Gremlin subdues and locks Bischoff in his bathroom before taking the reins for a little bit to explain that the gremlins take over at this point in the film, his displeasure at Bischoff using the nickname "Mr. Glasses" instead of his official name and begins a treatise on politics before Bischoff breaks his way out of the bathroom with an axe and subdues the Brain Gremlin. The novel then continues where the film picked up after the film break.

Video games

Multiple officially licensed video games based on the franchise have been produced. One of the first was Gremlins, released by Atari, Inc. for their 2600 console in 1984. Atari, Inc. released a completely different (and more technically advanced) game—also called Gremlins—for the Atari 8-bit computers, Atari 5200, Apple II, Commodore 64, and IBM PC compatibles. Although the 5200 version went to manufacturing in 1984, the turmoil surrounding Jack Tramiel's takeover of Atari's consumer business resulted in it not being released until 1986.

Spanish company Topo Soft developed a side-scrolling Gremlins 2: The New Batch video game for Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, MSX, Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum, distributed by Erbe Software in Spain and by Elite abroad, being the first time a Spanish video game company received an exclusive license from a Hollywood movie for a video game. Hi Tech Expressions also released an MS-DOS game at around the same time, but it was poorly received. Sunsoft released versions for the Nintendo Entertainment System and Game Boy in 1990.

In the 2000s, more games were released. Gremlins: Unleashed! (2001) for the Game Game Boy Color is about Gizmo trying to catch Stripe and thirty other gremlins, while the gremlins also try to turn Gizmo into a gremlin. Both Gizmo and Stripe are playable characters in the game. Gremlins: Stripe vs. Gizmo (2002) for the Game Boy Advance is a platform game with of 14 levels and 3 playable characters: Stripe, Gizmo, and a Gremlin.

NECA, published Gremlins Gizmo for the Wii and Nintendo DS. It was developed by Pipeworks Software and released on November 18, 2011.

A Gremlins Team Pack was released for Lego Dimensions on November 18, 2016. The pack includes minifigures of Gizmo and Stripe, a constructible polaroid camera and RC car and grants access to an Adventure World and Battle Arena based on the franchise. Howie Mandel and Frank Welker reprise their respective roles as Gizmo and Stripe. The duo additionally became playable characters in the platform fighter MultiVersus.

An interactive fiction game based on scenes from the film, Gremlins: The Adventure, was released in 1985 for the Acorn Electron, BBC Micro, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum. It was written by Brian Howarth for Adventure Soft with color illustrations on some formats.

Theme park attractions

Warner Bros. Classics and The Great Gremlin Adventure was a dark ride located at Warner Bros. Movie World on the Gold Coast, Australia, and Warner Bros. Movie World in Bottrop, Germany (now Movie Park Germany). On 3 June 1991, Warner Bros. Movie World opened to the public. One of its original attractions was Warner Bros. Classics and The Great Gremlin Adventure. A duplicate of the Australian attraction opened with Warner Bros. Movie World Germany (later renamed Movie Park Germany) on 30 June 1996. It was named Gremlin Invasion. The ride's soft-opening was on 29 June 1996. The ride has been replaced with the Scooby-Doo Spooky Coaster and Van Helsing's Factory in the two parks respectively.