The trailer for Blumhouse's new HALLOWEEN sequel has been getting a great response from fans online since it was released last Friday, and I have a feeling that the film is going to be quite successful when it comes out this October. So odds are there are going to be more HALLOWEEN movies after this. It's expected, these franchises never fully die. Even if this is the end of the line for Jamie Lee Curtis and her character Laurie Strode.
I was shocked that Curtis signed on for another HALLOWEEN movie at all. I thought she had wrapped up her association with the franchise with HALLOWEEN: H20 and, unfortunately, HALLOWEEN: RESURRECTION, but she decided to return for this new sequel, which ignores the events of every sequel that came before, acknowledging only the original 1978 film. But the intention that this will be the last HALLOWEEN for Curtis is clear right there in the synopsis:
Laurie Strode comes to her final confrontation with Michael Myers, the masked figure who has haunted her since she narrowly escaped his killing spree on Halloween night four decades ago.
Curtis has also said that she hopes this film will serve as a "beautiful conclusion" to the story of Laurie Strode.
Where will the series go from here, presumably without Laurie? Co-writer Danny McBride says there are already some ideas in place – in fact, at point there was some consideration given to the possibility of shooting this HALLOWEEN back-to-back with another sequel. McBride told Entertainment Weekly:
We were going to shoot two of them back-to-back. Then we were like, Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. This could come out, and everyone could hate us, and we’d never work again. So, let’s not have to sit around for a year while we wait for another movie to come out that we know people aren’t going to like. So, we were like, Let’s learn from this, and see what works, and what doesn’t. But we definitely have an idea of where we would go [with] this branch of the story and hopefully we get a chance to do it."
Also looking ahead to future HALLOWEENs is producer Malek Akkad. While discussing the fact that the Michael Myers character is 61 years old in the new film, Akkad was quoted as saying,
I think absolutely it’s a terrifying prospect. I mean, you can look at someone like a Mickey Rourke, not that he’s terrifying; someone who’s fit and at that age and there’s something very creepy about that. I think it’s exciting because it gives us more options and things that we can do later… and hopefully this won’t be the last one."
While it's good to hear that Akkad is excited for the future of the franchise, it's also fun to learn that he's creeped out by Mickey Rourke.
We'll find out just how open the door is to a sequel, and what condition characters are in by the end of it, when HALLOWEEN reaches theatres on October 19th.
Curtis's co-stars include Judy Greer as Laurie's daughter Karen; Andi Matichak as Karen's daughter Allyson; Miles Robbins, Virginia Gardner, Dylan Arnold, and Drew Scheid as Allyson's Haddonfield High classmates; Will Patton and Rob Niter as police officers; Rhian Rees as a character named Dana; and Diva Tyler as a caretaker. Original Michael Myers performer Nick Castle and stuntman James Jude Courtney both wore the mask of the iconic slasher this time around.
McBride wrote the screenplay with Jeff Fradley and director David Gordon Green.
Original HALLOWEEN director John Carpenter served as an executive producer on this one, and will be composing the score.