The Tremors film franchise originally ran from 1990 to 2004. The series of films began with the 1990 theatrical release Tremors, distributed by Universal Pictures, and was followed by three straight-to-video sequels produced by Stampede Entertainment and distributed by Universal Studios Home Video. Now it looks like Stampede Entertainment could be behind a Tremors reboot.
It’s worth noting that after 2004’s Tremors 4: The Legend Begins, development of a fifth film was delayed. The original film’s writers, Brent Maddock and S. S. Wilson, tried to get a fifth film off the ground for years. They were the ones involved with the Stampede Entertainment label that also produced the original three sequels.
Ultimately, Universal Pictures moved forward without their involvement, and Tremors 5: Bloodlines, Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell, and Tremors: Shrieker Island were produced via Universal 1440 Entertainment. Now, however, Wilson has revealed at the 2nd Annual TremorsFest via JoBlo that he and Maddock have re-acquired the rights to the original Tremors screenplay.
While that excludes the elements introduced in the sequels, it does mean that Maddock and Wilson will be instrumental in getting any new Tremors projects made. Here’s what was shared by Wilson:
“What we have now, just got, are the rights to our original screenplay. That’s good, we can remake (Tremors) if we want to. We don’t have the rights to Shriekers, we don’t have the rights to Ass Blasters, we don’t have the rights to Tremors 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7.”
A remake would certainly be the easiest project to get made as far as rights go. Of course, with Tremors still having a dedicated fanbase that has been invested in all, or at least most, of the sequels over the years, some fans would like to see the story continued rather than retold. Fortunately, Wilson spoke to Talking Tremors podcast host Levi Dylan Burzlaff-Luett to discuss their plans to reboot the franchise – and they seem to include a sequel. Here’s what he shared:
“Stampede has ZERO intention to do a remake of the first movie. They’re most likely going to try to make a sequel that’s set in Perfection, Nevada with the remaining cast and crew and another Graboid threat. Marc Toberoff would love for them to pull a Prey style approach to a sequel film.”
Finally, any new project would still have to include Universal to some extent. As it’s been said “Stampede doesn’t have the foreign distribution rights, so they still have to go to the table for negotiations with Universal about selling outside of America.” In any case, it seems as though a new Tremors sequel with the original creators involved is almost certainly on the table.
As always, fans can stay tuned to ScreenGeek for more updates as we have them. Hopefully all of this means that the Tremors franchise will be given a proper revival in the near future.