Love it or not, James DeMonaco’s ludicrous thriller The Purge completely blew all expectations out of the water this past weekend, earning $36.3 million in its first few days of release. The film’s budget was only $3 million to begin with, and even though they poured money into the promotional campaign, the entire amount was recouped and then some. And like every successful Hollywood thriller, this one will exist as a single feature without any sequels warranting further contemplation.
Guess again. Micro-budget producer Jason Blum announced through his production company Blumhouse’s Twitter feed that “The Purge 2 is in development,” and Universal is right behind him to make another trip to this semi-dystopian future a reality. It isn’t known yet whether or not DeMonaco will be back in either a writing or directing capacity, but I’m guessing DeMonaco and other execs kicked around a bunch of ideas for a possible second film. Hopefully they’ll utilize world-building skills that the first film gave up on.
It is interesting to note that this immediate call for a sequel pretty much tells anyone who hasn’t watched The Purge yet that the film does not end with a nationwide cease and desist on the yearly event. Spoiler!
This news is hardly a surprise, given Blum rose to prominence as a producer with the Paranormal Activity franchise, which didn’t take long to lose all of the steam that it barely had to begin with. But it’s hard to rag on a guy who turns profits the way Blum does. Stay in your homes, keep your doors locked, and stay tuned to Cinema Blend for more news on this sequel as it trickles through the Twittersphere.
