We may be a few months separated from St. Patrick’s Day, but there’s another reason to pour a pint of Guinness and celebrate.
The Leprechaun is back.
After an 11-year hiatus, The Leprechaun franchise will receive a reboot next month in Leprechaun: Origins, which explores the origin of the creature that terrorized his way through six increasingly ridiculous movies over the course of ten years. In a disappointing turn of events, franchise star Warwick Davis won’t be reprising his role as the vicious leprechaun Lubdan, who will be played by professional wrestler Dylan Postl, who performs as “Hornswoggle” in WWE events.
While early reports of a big-screen release for Leprechaun: Origins appear to have fallen through, EW.com has the first look at the trailer for the film (embedded below), which seems to abandon the campy tone of prior installments in favor of a darker, more serious horror tale. The film will be directed by Zach Lipovsky, who was a finalist on the Fox film making reality show On The Lot. The new movie follows a group of couples whose backpacking trip through Ireland takes a turn for the spooky when they happen upon a seemingly idyllic, isolated town near the edge of a dark forest.
The project is a joint production between WWE Studios — the filmmaking arm of the wrestling entertainment company — and Lionsgate Pictures. The studios have also released a brief clip from the film that’s introduced by Postl, which you can watch here (embedded below the trailer).
Leprechaun: Origins arrives on VOD August 26, and September 30 on DVD and Blu-ray.
