Lionsgate is currently readying a reboot of the Leprechaun franchise. It’s been more than five years since Leprechaun Returns arrived in late 2018, and the horror icon hasn’t graced our screens since. But that’s going to change in the not-too-distant future as Felipe Vargas (Milk Teeth) was tapped to direct a reboot of the franchise last year. Now, the filmmaker has broken his silence and shared a bit of his vision for the film.
Vargas appeared on a recent episode of the Splattercast podcast (which you can check out below). During the episode, the director was naturally asked about his upcoming Leprechaun movie. While there’s still no word on casting, the official title, or when filming will begin, Vargas explained that he intends to make the most of what he described as a “limitless” franchise.
“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. You can do so much with these scares. You can really push the boundaries with these scenes. It doesn’t need to be grounded. It can just be gory, sexy, crazy. I think you can just have fun with it.”
Vargas explained that he produced a short film to demonstrate his vision for the reboot, which ultimately helped him land the gig once Lionsgate had the rights to the franchise. The shot was a scene from the script that involved a plant growing inside of someone. He also used words like “elevated” and “mythical” to describe what he wants to accomplish with the forthcoming film. The filmmaker also discussed trying to strike a balance between the horror and the comedy, both of which are inherent in this franchise.
“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 of Leprechaun in 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.”
The Warwick Davis-led Leprechaun films leaned very heavily on humor, with Leprechaun in the Hood kind of nailing it in that department. But it is, indeed, sometimes a tricky thing to balance. Rather importantly, Vargas also touched on his approach to the film’s visual effects, and he intends to lean heavily on practical effects, rather than rely on CGI.
“That’s a part of my initial pitch. I think the practical effects are so key and so fun, and so much more real, and scary, and tangible. And more affordable too, I think. Definitely want to bring that back in a big way.”
The new Leprechaun movie does not have a release date yet but stay tuned.
