In a freshish press release they state that although they were contacted about the new film currently in production, they have little to nothing to say about it. They were offered Executive Producer positions, but they would have no say in anything that went on in the "even-lower budget project". Because they were offered so limited control, they declined to take part, and will have nothing at all to do with the new film beyond them having created the concept and some characters.
This all sounds not so fun, Stampede has always been the ones ushering for new films and new directions. Without them the franchise would have never become a franchise, certainly not one with now three sequels, a prequel, and a 13-episode season of a television series. In the press release, which you can also read below, Stampede says that as recent as in 2012 they purposed an independent theatrical production, but Universal declined, rather wanting to make another DTV sequel at some point in the future (which we have now reached).
This all makes me feel conflicted, of course I am excited at the prospect of getting yet another dose of Burt Gummer in my life, but I am disappointed that the team who made him who he his won't be back to guide him further. Fortunately, the writer of "Tremors 5" also wrote the third film, "Tremors 3: Back to Perfection" which is so far the only film to have Burt Gummer as the lead character, so the writer isn't totally uninformed about the series or character. Unfortunately, "Tremors 3: Back to Perfection" is often mentioned at the weakest film of the series when talked about in fan circles. Rarely will you hear someone say it was their favourite.
What the final result will be is anybody's guess. For all we know it could be amazing, but the new even lower budget, as mentioned by Stampede, doesn't sound very promising. I have been positive in the past about Universal wanting this to succeed, but it seems they don't want to risk a lot of money making sure it will succeed. Hopefully Stampede will at some point be brought back into the game and get their theatrical film, nothing would be a surer way of creating another cult hit.
The press release follows.
Tremors 5
As we approach the 25th anniversary of Tremors, we have news about Tremors 5.
Most fans are aware that Universal Studios has announced production of a new DVD sequel, being shot in South Africa. For all of us at Stampede, this is a bittersweet development in our long connection with the franchise, since we, the creators, are not involved.
Stampede has always been interested in reassembling the original Tremors creative team to produce a fresh new theatrical sequel in the Tremors voice. We attempted rights negotations with Universal for an independent theatrical film in 2012. However, the sudio passed on the option, preferring to continue the franchise with DVDs at some future date.
Early in 2014, Universal Home Video indicated that they were budgeting another sequel based on a 2004 script written by Brent Maddock and S. S. Wilson. While they pointed out that they had "no further contractual obligation" to Stampede, they did offer us Executive Producer positions. But they also made it clear that in this new even-lower budget project, the Stampede' partners' participation would be severely restricted, with little control over cast, director, special effects, locations, or indeed any aspect of production.
It was always only our full involvement as creators that gave us the means and incentive to reinvigorate and expand the Tremors universe with Tremors 2, 3, 4 and the series -- despite the significant increasing budget limitations. Without meaningful creative control allowing us to continue to gurantee the integrity of our Tremors vision, we sadly declined to be involved.
The entire Stampede Team extends a big THANK YOU to the loyal fans who have clamored for this movie for so long. For your viewing pleasure, we hope it's good!
The Stampede Partners:S. S. Wilson, Brent Maddock, Nancy Roberts. Ron Underwood.
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