While the Leprechaun reboot was recently announced in 2023 by Lionsgate, no updates have been given, and, since Felipe Vargas was made director, he recently has threw away the project. No reason has been given for this.
The Leprechaun movies have been one of the priorities for Lionsgate since they made a decent amount of profit through their fanbase. Excluding the first two films, most of the entries are straight to video releases. A total of eight films currently populate the franchise, with star Warwick Davis being the villain for the first six installments.
With the latest release, Leprechaun Returns, in 2018, Lionsgate is attempting to make a second reboot of the franchise following Leprechaun Origins in 2013. Lionsgate wanted Vargas to direct following his short horror film, Milk Teeth.
Vargas originally teased how his entry was going to be as good as the first few successful entries by saying,
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. 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.
The anticipation has made the set back that much more distressing to fans. Although a new director must take the role, the franchise’s long cult following somewhat solidifies studio commitment. Mike Van Waes is still writing the upcoming picture, and Roy Lee is still producing.
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