Trumped Up

The official line at director Joe Dante’s Renfield Productions has the film maker preparing two separate movies--”Monoliths” and “Gremlins II”--and closely guarding both plots. In fact, we’ve learned, they’re the same film.

According to inside sources, Dante starts his “Gremlins’ ” sequel, a.k.a. “Monoliths,” next month in N.Y.C. The story concerns a Donald Trump-style developer who demolishes the shop of a mysterious Chinese businessman--the purveyor of the cute creature in the original “Gremlins” that spawned so many nasty ones. With surprising results.

Meanwhile, the Zach Galligan and Phoebe Cates characters have moved to Gotham with Gizmo, the good gremlin. Predictably, there will plenty of bad gremlins getting into trouble. Look for it in summer, 1990.