Joe Dante solo-directed nine theatrical features between 1978 and 1998, and eight of them are now on 4K UHD, with Gremlins 2 the only holdout. Seven of those eight are boutique releases from Arrow, Shout, Scream Factory, Vinegar Syndrome, and Paramount. The eighth is Warner’s 2019 Gremlins disc, which has the framing tightened, no Dolby Vision pass, and old supplements ported from the 2009 Blu-ray.
On May 1, 2026, Dante introduced a closed-group screening of a 2 hour 35 minute assembly cut of the original Gremlins, made in late 1983 and never publicly shown since, with the only surviving print now living at a fan-run archive while Warner doesn’t have a copy.
The boutique Dante shelf
Arrow shipped Innerspace as a Limited Edition in late April with a fresh 4K scan, Dolby Vision, and an hour-long documentary. Shout Factory did Matinee in 2024, has The ‘Burbs coming June 9, and put Piranha out on a Collector’s Edition in 2022. Scream Factory put The Howling out on a Collector’s Edition with the StudioCanal restoration. Vinegar Syndrome’s Explorers Limited Edition ships May 26 in a flash pre-order direct-only run, and Paramount finally gave Small Soldiers the 4K Steelbook in July 2025. Dante has been signing copies and introducing screenings across the run.
The Warner shelf
Warner has two Dante films and one of them on 4K. The Gremlins 4K landed S-Tier on bestblurays for the scan, though the framing on the 4K is 1.78:1 instead of the 1.85:1 of the prior Blu-ray, the HDR pass is HDR10 only with no Dolby Vision option, and the special features are largely carried over from the 2009 Blu-ray.
Gremlins 2 doesn’t have a 4K release at all, though one is rumored. The 2011 Blu-ray is the only HD option, the film was shot on 35mm in anamorphic Panavision, and the source for a real 4K scan is sitting in the Warner archive. Warner is making Gremlins 3 separately, with Chris Columbus directing, Steven Spielberg producing, Adam B. Stein and Zach Lipovsky on script, Jenna Ortega in talks to star, and a 2027 release window, though Dante isn’t formally credited on the new film.
The assembly cut
The first Gremlin doesn’t appear until an hour in, the bar chaos sequence runs ten minutes, and the Phoebe Cates Christmas monologue isn’t in the assembly cut at all. The Hollywood Reporter quoted Dante calling it “an archival screening” and saying “you usually don’t go back into the archives and pull out stuff from the bin.” Dante gave his personal VHS, the only known surviving copy, to The Gremlins Museum, a fan-run online archive operated by Ian Grant.
The two writers who attended this screening are the ones writing Gremlins 3, and a reissue of the original with the assembly cut as an alternate version paired with a rumored Gremlins 2 4K in a boxset timed to Gremlins 3 in 2027 would explain why both archival events are landing in the same year.
Where to start
Innerspace is the freshest disc, Matinee is the underseen S-Tier sleeper, and The Howling is the genre-essential pick. The Warner Gremlins 4K is the disc most collectors already own, and Gremlins 2 stays on the wait list until somebody confirms a SKU.
