Under the guidance of David Gordon Green and Danny McBride, the Halloween franchise is gearing up to come back in a major way. Michael Myers will soon return to Haddonfield to stalk Laurie Strode once more, and the long-awaited sequel will ignore many of the weaker entries in the franchise. In fact, according to series creator John Carpenter: the new Halloween may actually ignore every single one of the sequels. Carpenter opened up and addressed Jamie Lee Curtis' involvement in the film during a recent Q & A session, then explained that Halloween will pick up by only acknowledging the first movie in the series. The horror master said:
[Jamie Lee Curtis] talked to the director. Her part was written into the script and they had this idea -- it's kind of a... I don't know how to describe it. It's almost an alternative reality. It picks up after the first one, and it pretends that none of the other [sequels] were made. It's gonna be fun. There's a really talented director and it was well-written. I'm impressed.
The Halloween franchise already had some pretty convoluted continuity, and this isn't going to help. That said, this is somewhat surprising because earlier reports (backed up by comments made by Danny McBride) had suggested that Halloween II would also factor into the arc of the new Halloween. Now it seems that might not be the case, as the latest installment in the franchise could pick up 40 years after the original -- with Laurie last seeing Michael fall from a second story window after being shot by Dr. Loomis. Of course, there's always the chance this was just a situation where the famed horror master may have slightly misspoken and McBride was more on track.
Still, if it's true, this also means that Michael was never shot in both eyes or incinerated -- thus adding further credence to the reports that he won't be wholly unstoppable or unkillable in the upcoming film.
John Carpenter's comments to Stereogum during this recent Q-and-A session (if true) could have some massive implications for the overarching mythology of the Halloween franchise. For starters, it means that Michael's body count ends with the murder of Annie, Bob, and Linda on Halloween night in 1978. He didn't murder a hospital graveyard shift, and (perhaps most importantly) Ben Tramer is still alive. Beyond that, it also has the potential to strike his blood relationship to Laurie from the Halloween mythology because his status as her brother was not brought into the series until the sequel.
If that indeed is the case, then it could possibly indicate that the folks behind the new Halloween film are doing everything in their power to return Michael to his former, mysterious self. No more Curse of Thorn and no more sibling rivalry with Laurie Strode; in the immortal words of Sam Loomis, he's just purely and simply evil.
The Halloween franchise will return to the silver screen next fall on October 19, 2018. Make sure to check out CinemaBlend's handy guide of upcoming horror films that we're dying to see, as well as our 2017 movie premiere guide and our 2018 movie premiere guide to see what else is set to debut over the next year!
