Halloween Ends: David Gordon Green never considered making it a “Laurie and Michael movie”

Fans had expectations going into Halloween Ends (read our review HERE). Given the title and the fact that this was hyped up to be the last time Jamie Lee Curtis will ever play the role of franchise heroine Laurie Strode, it seemed sensible to assume that the movie was going to focus on the final showdown between Laurie and masked slasher Michael Myers – who has killed many people around her over the years. Friends, acquaintances, and even her own daughter. But Halloween Ends has very little to do with the final battle between Laurie and Michael – and director David Gordon Green says it was never going to be focused on that.

Speaking with Movie Maker, Green said, “We had to decide how we wanted to wrap up these characters. How do we want to make it not just a nice, neat bow on a franchise? Honestly, we never once considered making a Laurie and Michael movie [Laughs.] The concept that it should be a final showdown-type brawl never even crossed our minds. I wanted to see where it would go. I wanted one to win, one to die. But we were always more ambitious with that. So how did we want to go out? By doing what no one except us would do: make a love story. It’s our version of going out with a bang and opening our hearts to this community and these characters.“

Green said he wanted to make a love story while also digging into the making of a psychopath. “We made it about what can create the psychopath, without having to go into a Michael Myers psychological backstory. People have tried to do it and it isn’t interesting to me because it tends to make him less scary as an entity. But can we get into the development of evil? What a community that neglects the well being of their own can unleash on themselves in a way that they didn’t intend. That’s something that’s fascinating and I think it happens all the time.“

When asked how he responds to the negative feedback Halloween Ends has gotten, he replied, “It’s funny, when someone says, ‘Build your dream house on this real estate using this title and these characters,’ everybody is going to find a different little thing that’s meaningful for them and they’ll make it their own. That’s what I did. For every bite of backlash, you also get people that are thanking you for taking it to a new place and keeping it alive and full of love.“

Green, who was also at the helm of Halloween 2018 and Halloween Kills, directed Halloween Ends from a screenplay he wrote with Danny McBride, Paul Brad Logan, and Chris Bernier. The film has the following synopsis:

Four years after the events of last year’s Halloween Kills, Laurie is living with her granddaughter Allyson and is finishing writing her memoir. Michael Myers hasn’t been seen since. Laurie, after allowing the specter of Michael to determine and drive her reality for decades, has decided to liberate herself from fear and rage and embrace life. But when a young man, Corey Cunningham, is accused of killing a boy he was babysitting, it ignites a cascade of violence and terror that will force Laurie to finally confront the evil she can’t control, once and for all.

Curtis is joined in the cast by Andi Matichak, Rohan Campbell, and James Jude Courtney.

What do you think of the approach Green took to Halloween Ends? Did you want the movie to be more about the final showdown between Laurie Strode and Michael Myers? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.