It was revealed earlier this month that Halloween Kills would be released day-and-date in both theaters and the Peacock streaming service on October 15th. The news wasn’t entirely unexpected in these pandemic times, but while speaking with Collider, Blumhouse Produtions CEO Jason Blum said that the idea for the Halloween Kills release was entirely his.
It was my idea to do it. [Peacock] didn’t approach me. I approached them. I, like everyone else, am a big believer in the theatrical experience. I think eventually I think there should be windows. I think Universal’s strategy of the three-week window is a great strategy, but I had a bad distribution experience with Freaky. That movie is a great movie, and it didn’t get seen because the distribution of it got all twisted up. My fault.
“I didn’t want to go through that experience again,” Blum continued. “I didn’t want to have a movie that I’m really proud of that I think is great and have there be an excuse why people didn’t see it. So I’m the one who pitched Universal. And then I pitched Jamie and David, and it was my idea. I stand behind it. I’m glad that we’re doing it.“
Halloween Kills recently debuted at the Venice International Film Festival and first reviews were decidedly mixed. If you’re looking for grisly and brutal violence, it sounds as though the sequel has that in spades, but doesn’t advance the characters in the same way the original did. Granted, horror fans (myself included) are sure to eat it up. Taking place immediately after the first film, Halloween Kills follows Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), her daughter Karen (Judy Greer), and granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) as they leave Michael Myers to burn in the basement of Laurie’s house. Michael naturally escapes and the Strode women join up with other survivors to form a mob in order to hunt Michael down.
As I mentioned above, the Halloween Kills release will arrive on October 15, 2021 in theaters and streaming on Peacock.