Leprechaun Director Addresses Franchise’s Disappointments and Upcoming Reboot (Exclusive)

Any cinematic franchise that is lucky enough to earn eight entries is likely going to have select installments that don’t quite meet the expectations of the most effective entries, which can surely be said of the Leprechaun franchise. After Warwick Davis starred in the first six entries in the series, Leprechaun Origins aimed to reinvent the franchise, which delivered audiences a more monstrous take on the titular villain than the wisecracking character seen in the previous films. Director of the original movie Mark Jones recently looked back on the frustrations with the approach Origins took to the series. The entire Leprechaun franchise is now streaming on Hulu.

“[Leprechaun Origins] I thought was absolutely the wrong way to go,” Jones shared with ComicBook.com. “For some reason, TriMark always wanted a straight horror thing, and I said, ‘You’re missing the humor.’ They didn’t use Warwick. [Leprechaun Returns] I thought was really good. I thought the actor portrayed a good version of Warwick, and it was a direct sequel, so I think they realized they needed to go back to the roots.”

Speaking about the previously announced reboot, Jones continued, “I hope they continue and I know there’s a reboot coming and I’ll find out more about it, but I hope they go back to what made it work, which was the fun character and all that. So I wasn’t real happy with Origins too much, only because it was the wrong direction and it didn’t do well. Nobody likes it, the fans don’t like it.”

In 2018, Leprechaun Returns embraced the popular trend of trying to revive a franchise by delivering a direct sequel to the original installment, which starred Linden Porco as the Leprechaun. Despite being a fan of Leprechaun Returns, Jones would like to see Davis return to the series.

“I’ve talked to Warwick and I think he was unique. The fans loved him. He and I really created that character on the first one on the set and meeting,” the director confessed. “So I think Warwick, it would be great to bring him back. At some point, he didn’t really want to do horror because his kids were younger, but he said maybe when time goes on, and I think it’s there. So we’ll see. I think they should, and I actually have a project that would be interesting, and I have talked to Warwick about it, but there’s nothing committed. So I think we should.”

Stay tuned for details on the future of the Leprechaun franchise. All eight films are currently streaming on Hulu.

What do you think of the filmmaker’s remarks? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!