Connie's Warwick Davis Fanpage and Leprechaun Center

Leprechaun 7
Status Summary

On March 8, 2007 director Darren Lynn Bousman posted this comment here on his MySpace blog: "I have seriously begged Lionsgate to let me direct the next Leprechaun movie... LEPRECHAUN IN THE OLD WEST!!! Seriously - think about - - The Lep in the colorado gold rush! DO YOU HEAR ME PETE BLOCK! Let me do this!!!"

I didn't take this too seriously until several months later, when this July 27th story appeared on the Splatter Films website:

When we talked to Darren Lynn Bousman tonight, director of the last two Saw sequels, he told us that he was adamant about making the next in the Leprechaun series.

Bousman's next project is the musical Repo! The Genetic Opera!. Shortly after he finishes that movie, he would like to jump directly into a Leprechaun film.

"I'm making this pitch to Lions Gate right now," He told us. "My Leprechaun film is going to take place in the Old West. We have hookers, six-shooters, and a bunch of gold miners. Gold is what they are mining. What could be more perfect for a Leprechaun film?"

We thought he was joking at first, but he was dead serious. This is the next step he wants to take after he finishes his musical, which he wishes he could have gotten Queen Latifah involved in, "I love Queen Latifah. I wish she would have known that we were making this Repo musical. I am defiantly giving her a call after the first one is a hit."

And that was all he had to say about that.

A video interview on MovieWeb includes some discussion of his desire to direct the movie, starting at about the 2½ minute point in the interview. It includes the information that the Leprechaun finds a time machine and uses it to travel back to the Old West. The time machine isn't really necessary of course since the Leprechaun was alive during that time period anyway, but it adds a little complexity to the story. There's also a bit of Lep-related joking right at the end of the interview.

It's obvious that Bousman is serious about wanting to direct Lep 7 and is making an ongoing effort to talk Lions Gate into it. I have no idea whether he has any chance of success, but he's already directing films for Lions Gate (check out his blog on the Lions Gate webpage) and that ought to help his efforts.

I certainly hope he succeeds, and I thoroughly approve of his story idea. I've been wanting to see the Leprechaun in a historical setting, and Lep in the Old West was my #2 choice. (Lep versus pirates was #1.) Although I enjoy Lep 6, I did think it was a mistake for them to go back to the hood a second time, and that the movie would have sold better if they'd gone in a fresh direction instead. A Gold Rush Leprechaun movie is exactly what we need to revitalize the series.

Lions Gate does not currently have a functioning email address for public use. If you'd like to encourage them to make another Lep movie, you can write to them the old-fashioned way at

Lionsgate
2700 Colorado Ave.
Santa Monica, CA 90404

Or send a fax to (310) 255-3870

News

January 29, 2006: Lately there has been an increase in rumors about an upcoming Lep versus Chucky movie, so I would like to state for the record that THERE IS NOT THE SLIGHTEST SHRED OF CREDIBLE EVIDENCE that anyone in the movie industry has ever given any serious thought to making this movie.

The rumors vary from saying that the movie is in negotiation to saying that it's actually in production. If the movie was actually in production it would be listed on IMDb and talked about by other reliable sources like UpcomingHorrorMovies, and it isn't. If there were serious negotiations, some reliable source would have announced or leaked the news by this time, and that hasn't happened.

The only 'evidence' for a Lep versus Chucky movie consists of message board posts and some misinterpretations of other internet material. Anybody can say anything on a message board, and Leprechaun pranksters usually claim to either be an insider or to know an insider. Just recently someone said on a message board that Warwick Davis told him several months ago that the movie was being negotiated. Although it's possible that this guy might have really met Warwick, I don't believe that Warwick told him anything of the sort. Warwick is frequently asked about Leprechaun movies, and if this was really true one or more of the following would have happened by now: Warwick would have talked about it on his webpage or in an interview, and/or he would have talked about it at a convention presentation where reliable sources would hear it and report the story, and/or he would have told it to other fans who would have reported it to reliable sources or talked about it on message boards long before this. Not to mention that an insider source would probably have told me about it by this time!

People sometimes point to this story on the Official Warwick Davis Website as proof that the movie is in the works. These people have misunderstood the article, which is in the RIDICULOUS RUMOURS section of the webpage and consists of a message written by a prankster claiming to be Warwick's son. Warwick's actual son is only two years old and far too young to write something like this.

People also sometimes point to internet trailers as proof, but these trailers are fakes or tributes made by pranksters or fans. With real movies, trailers aren't made while the movie is in preproduction; they're made when the movie is more or less complete and the advertising campaign for the release is kicking off.

If I receive any reliable information on an upcoming Lep movie, I'll report it on my webpage. Until then, don't believe everything you see on the internet!

September 2, 2004: It's been a little over eight months now since the release of Leprechaun 6. That's almost enough time to make an entire human being from scratch, and certainly enough time for Lions Gate Entertainment to have a solid idea of how good a revenue-producer the movie is. I can't find any online info about Lep 6 sales figures, but the fan base is large and loyal so I'm sure the movie did well. I think it's time to tell Lions Gate that we want more, so I'm kicking off a Leprechaun 7 email campaign. To do your part, just write to Lions Gate at the address at the top of the page and tell them (politely!) that you want them to make this movie.

Back in March 2003, a Celluloid Shockers interview with Warwick Davis revealed that there were plans for DVD boxed set of the first six movies featuring audio commentaries on all the films by Warwick and Lep makeup artist Gabe Bartalos. There's been no news about the boxed set since then, so feel free to request it while you're begging Lions Gate for Lep 7!

February 3, 2004: In the last week of January 2004, Creature Corner and Bloody-Disgusting posted rumors that had been emailed to them saying that Leprechaun 7 was underway. According to the rumors, the movie was to be called Leprechaun: Pimpin' In Da Hood and filming was to start in June. The source also provided a plot description, which you can read by following those links.

The whole thing sounded improbable to me, but I made some inquiries because I wanted to be certain. And sure enough, it was a prank; today my contact at Lions Gate confirmed that there's no truth to the rumor. Sorry folks, there are no immediate plans for a new movie.

So why the rumors? Well, for several years one or more people have been entertaining themselves by spreading false reports about an alleged upcoming Lep movie. There have been untrue posts on message boards and emails to webmasters trying to get their story published. I've received a few of these fakes myself.

[Postscript dated February 11, 2004: Creature Corner was able to identify the perpetrator of the hoax and posted a news story about it. The perp even confessed on this CHUD message board - it's the sixth message in the thread. In addition, Bloody-Disgusting declared the rumor a fake in this story.]

I hope that Lep 7 will be made someday, but it's not realistic to expect it this soon. Movie making is a business; the studio will need to assess the profitability of Lep 6 before they decide to make Lep 7. It's only been a month since Lep 6 was released, and that's not enough time for a reasonable evaluation. There's also the matter of that 6-DVD boxed set that we've been promised. They won't sell very many of those if the seventh movie has already been announced; the fans will just hold out for a 7-DVD set instead. It looks like the realities of the marketplace will make us wait a while for another Lep movie.

When the time finally comes, I'll be surprised if the movie is set in the hood. They've done two of those already; they need to keep things fresh, and switching to a dramatically different location would be a good idea. For example, the storyline from the false rumor would be a lot more fun if it was set in an Old West bawdy house during the California gold rush. The Leprechaun is old enough to appear in historical movies, and we've never seen him fight with cowboys!

So be cautious about believing any rumors you hear about the next Leprechaun movie. If you hear one, send it to me at lepconnie@hotmail.com - I'll do all I can to check it out!