Christopher Landon remains hopeful that Happy Death Day 3 will happen

I wasn't sure what to expect walking into HAPPY DEATH DAY and HAPPY DEATH DAY 2U, but I found myself pleasantly surprised by the time-looping horror/comedy. The first film followed Theresa "Tree" Gelbman (Jessica Rothe), a college student who is murdered on her birthday and begins reliving the day repeatedly, at which point she sets out to find the killer and stop her death. The sequel took the time-loops to a new level, and although director Christopher Landon has plans for a third installment of the franchise, those plans were put on hold when the second film wasn't quite as successful as the first.

While speaking with Empire, Christopher Landon said that although HAPPY DEATH DAY 3 if "definitely off to the side at the moment," the cast and crew remain quite passionate about it. "I wrote the idea for the third movie some time ago," said Landon. "I think we're all excited by it, because it's different than the other two films, and so we're really just crossing our fingers and hoping that our fanbase continues to grow – which is something that I've really enjoyed watching over the years, seeing more and more people discover both films. So who knows. There might be a time when it makes sense, and hopefully it's sooner rather than later." Landon revealed that the film is going by the working title of HAPPY DEATH DAY TO US, and unlike the first two films, which took place on the same day, the third film will involve a different day, meaning that there's not the same rush to get it into development.

We're not up against a really difficult clock right now. The other movies were hard, because they were set in the exact same day, so everybody had to look the same, be the same. The pressure is off there.

Although HAPPY DEATH DAY TO US may be off the slate at the moment, Christopher Landon does have another horror/comedy on the way. FREAKY stars Kathryn Newton as Millie Kessler, a high-school student who becomes the latest target of the Butcher (Vince Vaughn), an infamous serial killer, but when the killer's magic dagger causes her to swap bodies with him, she discovers that she only has a day to reverse the switch or else remain trapped in the body of a middle-aged murderer for the rest of her life. FREAKY is slated to be released on November 13, 2020.