A new Gremlins film has been in development for several years, with a handful of different writers attached at various points. Last we heard, the new installment in the franchise will take a Jurassic World-style approach, essentially operating as a legacyquel that takes place 30 years later and maintains the canon from the previous films while introducing new characters. While we wait for more updates on Gremlins 3, two of the writers who previously developed ideas for the sequel have shared their rejected pitch, which basically sounds like Mogwais on a Plane.

Every Gremlins fan has often questioned the three cardinal rules of Mogwai care: Don’t get them wet, don’t expose them to bright lights, and never feed them after midnight. It’s the last rule that’s been the source of nerdy debate — what if you were to change time zones, say, on a plane? Which midnight are we talking about then?

Mark Swift and Damian Shannon (Freddy vs. Jason) worked on a pitch for Gremlins 3 before Carl Ellsworth (Goosebumps) was hired to draft a new screenplay last spring. Swift and Shannon took to Twitter to share their pitch, which addressed that question about feeding. And although their pitch was ultimately rejected, tackling the concept of changing time zones when it comes to feeding Mogwais is a pretty neat idea, and one we hope is addressed in the new film, regardless of who ultimately ends up writing it:

TL;DR — the film opens on a plane after a mysterious man gets in a gunfight with some monks in Tibet and steals a familiar wooden box. Inside is Gizmo and another more mischievous Mogwai. On the plane back home, after midnight, a kid opens a bag of peanuts, they go flying, and the non-Gizmo Mogwai snatches up a wayward nut. Gremlin shenanigans ensue, the plane makes an emergency landing in the ’burbs and a kid picks up the box with Gizmo inside.

Shannon and Swift’s version doesn’t sound too bad. There’s a campy and adventurous element reminiscent of Joe Dante’s classic, but having seen Goosebumps, I can understand why they might want to give Ellsworth a shot. Whatever happens with the new Gremlins movie, let’s just hope that they maintain the practical integrity and resist the urge to populate it with CG Gremlins.

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