EXCLUSIVE: Should you encounter a pot of gold in your travels, beware — Leprechaun is back, with a new film penned by horror veterans Patrick Melton & Marcus Dunstan in the works at Lionsgate.
Oren Koules and Miles Koules are set to produce the new entry, whose plot is being kept under wraps, through their Koulest Productions banner. This marks Oren Koules’ second major horror franchise for Lionsgate, as he previously produced all 10 films in the Saw series, accounting for over a billion dollars in box office.
This is also Lionsgate’s second swing at revitalizing the Leprechaun franchise in just a few years. Felipe Vargas attached to direct a take from a script by Mike Van Waes in 2024; Roy Lee and Miri Yoon were to produce.
Speaking to his entrée into the world of Leprechaun, Oren Koules told Deadline, “After producing all the Saw films, and twenty-three wonderful years at Lionsgate, I’m thrilled to be working again with the Lionsgate team, Patrick and Marcus, and my son, Miles, on a terrifying new way into the rich world of Leprechaun.”
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Dan Heffner and Ketura Kestin will executive produce the new film.
A cult horror-comedy franchise revolving around a murderous, wisecracking Leprechaun who will kill anyone who messes with his pot of gold, Leprechaun spans eight films released between 1993 and 2018. Writer-director Mark Jones was behind the original film, starring Warwick Davis as the vengeful leprechaun — a role he would perform in six films. Notably, Jennifer Aniston co-starred in the first, in one of her earliest career roles.
Lionsgate took control of the Leprechaun franchise when it acquired Trimark Pictures in 2000. Interestingly, Final Destination: Bloodlines breakout Zach Lipovsky directed one of the franchise’s most recent entries, 2014’s Leprechaun: Origins. Showing an enduring popularity over the years, the Leprechaun films run in a marathon on Syfy network every St. Patrick’s Day.
Scribes Melton & Dunstan have previously teamed to write horror titles like The Collector, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, and Unhuman; Dunstan directed several of those films. The team also wrote Saw IV, Saw V, Saw VI and Saw 3D, the seventh film in the series. They are represented by Independent Artist Group, Underground, and Brecheen Feldman Breimer.
