Back in 2012, Lionsgate made the surprise announcement that, as part of its beautiful new friendship with WWE Studios, it was developing a reboot of the mind-boggling Leprechaun franchise. VFX veteran Zach Lipovsky was placed in the director's chair a year later, and this being a WWE project it transpired that it was all being set up as a vehicle for diminutive wrestler Dylan "Hornswoggle" Postl. And now, from the halls of Comic-Con, comes the first promo image for Leprechaun: Origins, showcasing a shadowed Lep in profile in a leafy graveyard. He doesn't look very much like Warwick Davis anymore...
If you're new here, the original Leprechaun came out in 1993, starring Davis as the titular murderous imp (mad as hell about being swizzed out of his Lucky Charms gold), and providing a pre-Friends starring role for Jennifer Aniston. It was released by Trimark, which Lionsgate swallowed in 2000.
It spawned an amazing five sequels in Leprechauns **2 **and 3, Leprechaun 4: In Space, Leprechaun In The Hood, and Leprechaun: Back 2 Tha Hood. Franchise highlights include the wee man becoming a rap mogul in the Hood instalments; wielding a shillelagh light saber in the sci-fi one; and jumping on a guy with a pogo stick, while singing, "This old Lep, he played one, he played pogo on his lung."
"We've been looking for ways to continue our relationship with Lionsgate", explained WWE honcho Michael Luisi, "and we saw Leprechaun as the perfect opportunity to take a well-known franchise and put a modern-day spin on it. This is a property we believe our audience will respond to, and we continue to look for ways to surprise and engage them."
We're certainly surprised. Our level of engagement remains to be seen. Leprechaun: Origins was shot and completed in the second half of last year, and involves a young couple backpacking in Ireland and stumbling upon the evil imp in a cabin in the woods. It goes straight to video in the States on August 26. There's no UK release date so far, but keep an eye on Kim's Video Dungeon, where it's bound to surface eventually.