St. Patrick’s Day means one thing in the horror sphere:Leprechaun. Back in June, Lionsgate confirmed a reboot of the cult classic was in the works and that the menacing Irish terror would soon grace our screens again. While the film is still in early production, director Felipe Vargas is opening up about his vision for the upcoming feature. Speaking to the Splattercast podcast (viaBloodyDisgusting), Vargas said:
“I’m so honored to be on that project. It’s such a cool franchise. To me what makes the franchise so special is that it really is limitless. It doesn’t need to be grounded. It can just be gory, sexy, crazy. We’re still figuring out that tone … And the balance between horror and comedy. I would love for it to be scary as hell and also hilarious. I think we’re going back to a lot of the roots ofLeprechaunin a lot of different ways, which I’m really excited about. But I think you also want to bring on a new audience. So it’s a really tricky one to figure out.”
Leprechaun
That blend of scares and laughs is what made Leprechaun so popular with audiences. While speaking about the original filmduring its 30th anniversary, Leprechaun creator Mark Jones told us that he looked to “bring in the comedy element, and not just do a straight forward monster and slasher movie” (according to Jones, the studio did cut some of the film’s comedy). If Vargas finds the right combination of “scary as hell” and “hilarious,” the reboot could be a very fun outing for viewers.
Will Warwick Davis Return for Leprechaun Reboot?
TheLeprechaunfranchise includes eight titles, beginning with Jones' 1993 film led by Warwick Davis and Jennifer Aniston to 2018’sLeprechaun Returns,which stars Taylor Spreitler as the daughter of Aniston’s character from the 1993 movie. A large part ofLeprechaun’s following is Davis, who portrayed the titular character for six of the franchise’s eight films. He didn’t appear in the last film and cited becoming a father as the reason for stepping back from the genre.
“You know what, we did six ‘Leprechaun’ films, and around Halloween people always watch them and love them. Horror is an interesting medium. I think it’s different when you have kids; you look at horror in a slightly different way. Since I finished the ‘Leprechaun’ films I had kids and I see the world through their eyes, and to be in a horror movie right now is probably not quite right. I will wait until my son turns 18 and then I’ll do some horror again,” Davis said in 2018.
Exclusive: Leprechaun Creator Mark Jones Revisits the Franchise 30 Years Later on Hulu
In honor of the Leprechaun movies coming to Hulu, Mark Jones spoke with us about the franchise, Jennifer Aniston, and a reboot.
The reboot has not been cast, but Davis' participation seems unlikely unless he’s had a change of heart. BesidesLeprechaun, Davis is known for his work onWillowand theStar WarsandHarry Potterfilm series.
The upcomingLeprechaun"reinvention" will be directed by Vargas and written by Mike Van Waes (Lilo & Stitch). Roy Lee (Don’t Worry, Darling) and Miri Yoon (Them) are attached to the project as producers. No word yet on when we can expect the reboot.
Leprechaunis available to stream on Peacock. A franchise marathon will air on Syfy this Sunday, March 17.
