‘The Burbs’ Director Joe Dante Reacts to Keke Palmer-Led Series Remake

Joe Dante is a bit surprised that his movie The ‘Burbs is getting the series-remake treatment.

Dante recently spoke to The Hollywood Reporter to promote the Max animated series Gremlins: The Wild Batch returning this week for its second season. Dante directed the 1984 feature Gremlins and its 1990 sequel, and he serves as consulting producer on the prequel show.

The filmmaker also helmed the 1989 dark comedy The ‘Burbs, which starred Tom Hanks, Bruce Dern and Carrie Fisher in the story of a family man who becomes convinced that his new neighbors are hiding a spooky secret. The movie received renewed attention with the news last month that Keke Palmer is set to star in a series version for Peacock from executive producers Brian Grazer and Seth MacFarlane.

Dante took to X (formerly Twitter) at the time of the series announcement with the message, “Call me maybe,” in response to a post about the news.

When asked how he feels about the remake, Dante tells THR with a laugh, “I think my actual comment was, ‘How are they going to make a whole TV series out of that story?’ As opposed to, ‘I want to be the one to do it.’”

He continues, “Good luck to them. It’s kind a one-off story.”

Dante confirms that he has not been contacted by the series’ team about being involved. As for how he feels about his film from 35 years ago spawning a new project, Dante says, “It’s always nice when things have a shelf life.”

During the conversation about Gremlins: The Wild Bunch, Dante also discussed the chances for a third Gremlins movie. “That’s up to the audience,” he said about the possibility of another film. “The fact is that it’s too big a property for somebody not to make something.”

The filmmaker added, “But it’s been difficult for people to wrap their heads around, ‘Exactly how are we going to do this?’ This series is a brilliant answer to that problem because it’s a prequel, and it’s animated, and it’s the perfect next step in the Gremlins saga.”