Back in 2017, Christopher Landon delightfully remixed the slasher with Groundhog Day with the Blumhouse hit, Happy Death Day. Following the release of the 2019 sequel, Happy Death Day 2U, Jessica Rothe’s Tree was supposed to get a horror comedy trilogy. But it’s been four years and there’s been no movement on a third Happy Death Day film. However, fans of the franchise will be happy to hear this exciting update from its writer/director.
When CinemaBlend spoke to Christopher Landon recently in anticipation for his latest movie, We Have A Ghost, the filmmaker behind Happy Death Day shared he’s very close with its star Jessica Rothe. In his words:
She's my work wife. She's one of my best friends now. We talk all the time, still. We're working on something else together right now. I would love to make movies and create stuff with her for the rest of my life. She's amazing.
While the Happy Death Day franchise may be slashed for now, Landon and Rothe are best buddies nowadays and are even cooking up something new together right now. The pair have such a great relationship, the filmmaker wants to continue working with her for his entire career. So while we may never get Happy Death Day 3, two of the key names of it are stuck like glue.
Happy Death Day 2U teased a third movie that Christopher Landon had in mind, but as he’s shared in the past, the sequel just wasn’t as successful as the first movie, making it difficult for Universal and Blumhouse to hit the greenlight on the project. Landon wrote the idea for the third movie awhile ago. During our interview, Landon spoke to when he realized he wanted to make Happy Death Day into three films:
After I made the first film and I was in post-production, I was editing the first film, that was when I had the idea for the sequel. And then very quickly around that time, I also had the idea for the third movie, because I realized, oh, this is a trilogy. Like this is sort of where I want this whole thing to go. And, you know, look, I'm, I'm really proud of the second film because I think it really did, I never would've made a sequel unless I felt like I had a reason to make it right. Like, I'm not like the guy that's like, whoa, well that made money, I better do another one, it was more like, I have more story to tell. Like, Tree’s arc is not done.
We’re certainly curious what Tree’s conclusion could be after being stuck in multiple time loops while she’s being hunted for death. Landon also said this:
We had a great time making that film. I know that it's found a lot of fans. I ultimately don't think that it has maintained it, if it ended up with the kind of momentum that the studio wanted for it and needed to sort of justify a third film. But I think that Jessica [Rothe] and Jason [Blum] and a bunch of people who worked on the film we’re all kind of still holding out hope that maybe they'll come around to it. But again, we're all here and ready and willing. It just depends on what the studio wants.
Landon still has “hope” that someday he’ll be able to close the loop on the Happy Death Day trilogy, but for now it’s exciting to hear he and Jessica Rothe are working on something new. Additionally, Landon’s latest movie We Have A Ghost is now available to stream with a Netflix subscription.
Release Date: February 24, 2023 (Netflix)
Directed By: Christopher Landon
Written By: Christopher Landon & Geoff Manaugh
Starring: David Harbour, Anthony Mackie, Jahi Di'Allo Winston, Erica Ash, Jennifer Coolidge, Tig Notaro and more.
We Have A Ghost is a supernatural family film about a ghost named Ernest, played by David Harbour, who is stuck haunting a home a family newly moves into. One of the new residents, a teen boy, makes it his mission to investigate Ernest and help him go to the other side. The We Have A Ghost cast also includes Anthony Mackie, Jennifer Coolidge and Tig Notaro.
Following We Have A Ghost, Landon is also signed on to remake 1990 movie Arachnophobia, which he gave us an update on and is a producer on the upcoming movie, Time Cut. We can’t wait to see what Landon does next, Happy Death Day or not.
