Lionsgate’s previously announced Leprechaun reboot has received a long-awaited update from director Felipe Vargas, who signed on to direct last year.
While making an appearance on the “Splattercast” podcast, the director broke the silence on the upcoming reboot and his vision for the movie.
You can watch the full podcast below:
Although no cast announcements for the currently untitled Leprechaun have been announced as of writing, Vargas did manage to touch on what he plans on getting out of the franchise.
“I’m so honoured to be on that project,” he said.
“It’s such a cool franchise,” he added.
“To me, what makes the franchise so special is that it really is limitless.”
Warwick Davis played the iconic horror character when the franchise debuted on screens in 1993, starring alongside Friends star Jennifer Aniston.
He continued: “You can do so much with these scares.”
“You can really push the boundaries with these scenes.”
He added: “It doesn’t need to be grounded.”
“It can just be gory, sexy, crazy. I think you can just have fun with it.”
The director went on to explain how he landed the gig after producing a short film to demonstrate his personal vision for the horror franchise’s upcoming reboot.
He also teased how he is hoping to find the perfect balance between horror and comedy.
He told the podcast: “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,” he added.
“But I think you also want to bring on a new audience. So it’s a really tricky one to figure out.”
Thankfully, Vargas broke the silence on whether the studio intends to use practical effects of CGI for the movie’s Leprechaun villain, to which the director chose the former.
“That’s a part of my initial pitch,” he began to explain.
“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.”
Lionsgate’s upcoming Leprechaun reboot has yet to slot a release date.
