John Carpenter is unquestionably a true legendary filmmaker. Since starting his career directing features in the mid-1970s, he has made some of the most iconic Hollywood films of all time, from Halloween to The Thing to In The Mouth Of Madness. Now that he's 68 years old, however, it seems that he might be ready to retire from that particular world -- no longer feeling the important drive that he did when he was younger.
This sad bit of news was delivered by John Carpenter himself while sitting in as a guest on the WTF With Marc Maron podcast. About 39 minutes into the show, the host asked if the genius filmmaker if he was done directing movies, and while Carpenter didn't deliver a 100 percent firm answer on the matter, he definitely gave the impression that his time behind the camera is just about at the end -- if it's not over already. Said the filmmaker,
Maybe. We'll see. I just don't care like I used to. I've gotten old. I look back on my career and I'm happy about it. I don't have the same consuming drive that you do when you're young... But you have to let that go. You have to embrace the Zen of life.
Given that John Carpenter is now 68 years old, it's not exactly a terrible shock that this is happening -- especially when you also factor in that he hasn't actually made a movie since 2010. The good news is that he does still plan on flexing his creative muscles in another artistic realm, as he has most recently been working on music with his son, Cody Carpenter, and on the WTF podcast he mentions that he even plans to go on tour.
Because of John Carpenter's age and the incredible totality of his work (Escape From New York, Big Trouble In Little China and They Live joining the titles mentioned above as true genre classics), it's hard to feel too sad that he is looking to leave directing behind - but as fans, there is still a selfish urge that makes us want to see him keep working. After all, Steven Spielberg (69), George Miller (71) and Martin Scorsese (73) are all still plugging away, and are all older than Carpenter is. Of course, an artist being forced to produce art is never going to produce quality, so perhaps it is ultimately for the best.
While we wait and see whether or not John Carpenter decides if he is done with filmmaker for good, hit the comments section below to celebrate his work and tell us which of his movies is your personal favorite!
