Spoilers ahead for Blumhouse's Halloween. You've been warned!
If there's one thing the horror genre is known for, its sequels. Tentpole franchises like Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street have produced innumerable installments, as the iconography of their villains are enough to make a ton of money at the box office. As such, horror properties are never really dead-- just ask Halloween.
John Carpenter's original Halloween was a game changer for the slasher genre, and catapulted star Jamie Lee Curtis into stardom. Both the franchise and Curtis returned to theaters with Blumhouse's recent Halloween, which made a ton of money while also becoming a critical success in the process. Early rumors about another sequel are swirling, and Carpenter himself has now weighed in, saying:
We'll be ready. We've all talked about it. We'll be ready.
Well, that's exciting. It looks like John Carpenter is ready for yet another Halloween movie to hit theaters, hopefully including more of his signature score. He returned to write the music and advice the new filmmakers on Blumhouse's Halloween, and that project seems to have reignited his passion for Michael Myers, Laurie Strode, and all the happenings in Haddonfield, Illinois.
John Carpenter's latest comments come from his interview with Consequence Of Sound. While John Carpenter didn't return to the director's hair for Blumhouse's Halloween, he was apart of the music, writing a new arrangement for Halloween's iconic theme song. The track and the movie itself ended up being massive successes, with another sequel seeming more and more like an inevitability with each comment.
Halloween was a massive success when it arrived in theaters in time for this year's annual holiday of the same name. The project retconned the myriad sequels out of existence, allowing the new movie to be a direct sequel to John Carpenter's original. Crafted by Halloween superfans David Gordon Green and Danny McBride, the new movie took a ton of inspiration from the OG movie, while also adding plenty of subtle nods to the sequels like Halloween II and H20.
The movie ended up making a whopping $252.9 million at the box office, on an indie budget of $10 million. Thats a pretty serious profit, which is no doubt why rumors of another Halloween began swirling around shortly thereafter. Both Jamie Lee Curtis and Danny McBride have previously expressed interest in making another movie, if the same team is retained.
Of course, its important to note that Blumhouse hasn't made any official announcements regarding the Halloween franchise's future, so there's no guarantee that another sequel is on the way. Still, Jason Blum himself seems eager to bring another project to theaters, and hopefully have the same financial and critical success a second time around. Here's hoping.
Narratively, there are plenty of threads to pull from in order to continue the story of Blumhouse's Halloween. Franchise leading lady Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) survived her most recent attack from Michael Myers, in a story that was equal parts horror and family drama. Laurie's trauma from her childhood attack caused her to obsess over his return, isolating herself from the world and losing custody of her daughter Karen (Judy Greer) in the process.
But she was ultimately right, and that training and preparation paid off when Michael Myers escaped Smith's Grove and returned to Haddonfield for revenge. Laurie used her home as a fortress, with she, Karen, and granddaughter Allyson fought him off. The trio of Strode women trapped Michael in the house's basement, revealing Laurie's master plant to burn him alive. That's what they did, although a body was never shown onscreen.
Like most horror villains, Michael Myers has a habit of surviving after being presumably killed. This trend started with the original film, with only H20 ever actually showing Michael dying. As such, it would stand to reason for Michael to once again come for Laurie, although his vendetta is now likely extended to her daughter and granddaughter as well.
Another Halloween movie could easily focus on the ongoing and ever-changing relationship between the Strode women. While Karen ultimately took arms again Michael, she faced her childhood trauma and her husband was murdered. The last shot of Blumhouse's Halloween shows Allyson clutching a butcher knife, and it's unclear how she'll react to the blood and mayhem she survived on Halloween night.
Those moviegoers who saw Halloween might have missed a big clue about Michael Myers' fate, if they chose not to stay through the credits. Because after the credits rolled for Blumhouse's first installment in the legendary franchise, you could hear the familiar sound of Michael's breathing within his mask. This seems to indicate his survival, and all but tease another sequel coming down the line. Laurie Strode was originally teased to be battling Michael for the final time in the recent sequel, although that might not have been entirely true.
Given the insane sum of money that Halloween made this October, it seems like Blumhouse would be foolish to pass on the opportunity to produce yet another sequel. The horror studio largely works on indie projects, so the box office success of a movie like Halloween is a bit unprecedented. Add on the glowing reviews and willingness to return for from figures like Jamie Lee Curtis, and it seems like only a matter of time before another project is green-lit. But the question is, when might that happen?
While Blumhouse quickly green-lit Happy Death Day 2U so that a sequel could arrive just one year later, the folks involved in the new Halloween movie seem a bit more methodic and slow about their process. As such, it doesn't seem likely that Laurie Strode will once again battle Michael Myers in less than one year's time-- in time 2019's holiday of the same name. So if Blumhouse decides to make another Halloween movie a reality, there should presumably be plenty of waiting left before we see Jamie Lee Curtis kick ass as the OG scream queen again.
Fans of the Halloween franchise are in luck this Holiday season, Blumhouse's new release will be available digitally on December 28th, and for home purchase on January 15th, 2019. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your trips to the movies in the New Year.
