Development of Halloween Returns starting over from scratch

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Back in June, Dimension Films and Trancas International Films announced that a new HALLOWEEN film entitled HALLOWEEN RETURNS would soon be entering production, with Marcus Dunstan (THE COLLECTOR, THE COLLECTION) directing from a screenplay he wrote with Patrick Melton. We have gathered bits and pieces of information over the months, like a synopsis – 

HALLOWEEN RETURNS will pit a new group of Haddonfield youngsters against Myers. The now 18-year-old child of one of Myers’ victims plays a central role along with the child of a cop who has long been obsessed with Myers’ case, even putting it before his own daughter.

Myers is now on Death Row and the two kids with their own personal vendettas against the killer sneak in to watch his execution. But when things go awry and Myers escapes, the pair, along with their friends, find themselves in the firing line.

– and rumors that it would be a sequel to the original HALLOWEEN and HALLOWEEN II. But things haven't been moving along as quickly as originally expected, and it's now looking like that announcement was made prematurely. 

Last week, producer Malek Akkad told Daily Dead that the project had been delayed so it could be refigured. Talking to Blumhouse.com, Akkad has shed a bit more light on the situation: 

However, with HALLOWEEN RETURNS, although there were big announcement made this summer, and fans are excited to hear more about that, we’re actually still fine tuning that, believe it or not. It’s not going to be quite what was announced with the synopsis and potentially even the people involved. We’re sort of starting from scratch, which is not unusual when you’re dealing with studios and contracts and that stuff. While we were kind of gearing up and were ready to go, we’re now taking a step back and bringing in potential new people and partners in development.

While fans of the original continuity will be happy to know that Akkad intends to "bring back the Michael that fans loved and the aesthetic from the original" after Rob Zombie's different take on the material with his two films, this is still a bit of a blow for those of us who were hoping to get HALLOWEEN RETURNS sooner than later, and to those who liked Melton and Dunstan's ideas.

From Akkad's quote, it sounds like there's a major shake-up going on behind the scenes of this one. We'll keep you updated on the details as more is revealed.

HALLOWEEN's PJ Soles