'Joe Dante’s Film Inferno’: The Iconic Director Discusses All Things ‘Gremlins,’ His Lost ‘Halloween,’ 'Batman' Films & More [The Discourse Podcast]

In today’s episode of The Discourse, host Mike DeAngelo goes back in time to explore all of the nooks and crannies of filmmaker Joe Dante’s film career with the director himself, who is currently out promoting his Scream Factory and Shout Factory TV takeover entitled, “Joe Dante’s Film Inferno.” Taking place on September 3 on Screamfactorytv.com at 3pm ET, during the takeover, Dante will introduce and guide you through seven underrated classic feature films from the Shout Factory/Scream Factory catalog, including films like Roger Corman’s “Attack of the Crab Monsters,” William Castle‘s “House on Haunted Hill,” and more.

During the career-spanning interview, Dante discussed “the movie that will be on [his] tombstone,” which is his hit Amblin release “Gremlins,” and how it wasn’t supposed to be a family film when they started out.

“It was initially going to be a low-budget horror film.” Dante shared. “And then, Steven [Spielberg] had what I think turned out to be the most brilliant idea, which was about a month before shooting, he decided that this Gizmo character – who we had built and was very small and cute – should stick around for the whole movie. He shouldn’t turn into the bad Gremlin. And that struck us with horror because this little bag of bolts that we had built was maybe good for two reels, but there was no way it was going to carry the movie. So, we had to really scramble.”

And the rest, as they say, is history. The film spawned a truly bonkers, fan-favorite sequel and an upcoming animated prequel, “Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai,” for HBO Max, which Dante says is “very good” and may also be protected from Warner Bros./Discovery’s recent content issues due to an unannounced season two.

“The show is now apparently going to come to HBO Max, I believe, at the beginning of next year,” Dante said. “It was supposed to be this fall, but there’s a lot of turmoil over at HBO and Warner Bros., but I don’t think they can axe us completely because they’ve already got two seasons! They did one season and then ordered another season, so they’ve got some money invested in this thing, so I don’t think it’s going to be the new ‘Batgirl.’ And it’s a very nice show. It starts out very, very family-friendly, and then as it goes on, it gets a little scarier.”

The wide-ranging discussion touches on many of Dante’s fan favorites like “The Howling,” “Innerspace,” “Explorers,” “The ‘Burbs,” and more, but the director also talks about his projects that never came to be like his unproduced “Jaws” sequel, his version of “Batman” before Michael Keaton and Tim Burton were brought on (which you can read more about here), and his version of “Halloween III,” that nearly happened.

“I was actually hired on ‘Halloween III,” but they hadn’t greenlit the movie,” Dante explained. “It was the one with Dan O’Herlihy, [‘Season of the Witch‘]. And Nigel [Kneale] was writing it, and I had known him before. I was keen to do it, but ‘The Twilight Zone’ movie came up, and that was a go, so I said to John [Carpenter], ‘I have to do this,’ and so they went on and did it without me.”

Dante was even considered for “Jurassic Park,” but was eventually looked over for Steven Spielberg instead. “Jurassic Park, I was one of four directors who were considered for different studios,” he said. “And Michael Chrichton chose the one who could give him a theme park, which is not surprising.”

“Joe Dante’s Film Inferno” will be simulcast on Scream Factory TV, Shout! Factory TV, and through the Shout Factory TV app, available for free on most streaming platforms. You can listen to the entire conversation below.

The Discourse is part of The Playlist Podcast Network, which includes The Playlist Podcast, Be R eel, Deep Focus, The Fourth Wall, Bingeworthy & more. We can be heard on Apple Podcasts, AnchorFM, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, and most places where podcasts are found. You can stream the podcast via the embed within the article or click on the lead image at the top page. Be sure to subscribe and drop us a comment or a rating, as we greatly appreciate it. Thank you for listening.

As always, The Discourse is part of The Playlist Podcast Network—which includes The Playlist Podcast, Bingeworthy, Be R eel, Deep Focus, and The Fourth Wall. We can be heard on Apple Podcasts, AnchorFM, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, and most places where podcasts are found. You can stream the podcast via the embed within the article or click on the lead image at the top page. Be sure to subscribe and drop us a comment or a rating, as we greatly appreciate it. Thank you for listening.