Last year's Halloween reboot-quel from director David Gordon Green was a critically acclaimed box office smash that returned the iconic horror franchise to prominence. Since the release of that film, horror fans have been eagerly awaiting announcement of a sequel to continue the Halloween mythos. Now that wait is over because not one, but two Halloween sequels have been officially confirmed and with titles! Check out the announcement in the video below:
There you have it, despite years of preparation and a killbox designed specifically to end him, the Shape lives, and thus the long and bloody saga of Michael Myers and Laurie Strode continues. As you can see from Universal Pictures' announcement, Halloween is getting two sequels, Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends. The appropriately titled Halloween Kills will be released next year, on October 16, 2020. Then the following year, on October 15, 2021, comes Halloween Ends.
These upcoming sequels, from Trancas International Films, Miramax and Blumhouse Productions, will bring back some of the same talent that helped craft last year's $255 million hit. Halloween Kills returns David Gordon Green to the director's chair, and he will once again help write the film, alongside the returning Danny McBride and Rectify's Scott Teems. David Gordon Green will also complete the trilogy as director with 2021's Halloween Ends. On writing duties for that film are David Gordon Green, Danny McBride, Paul Brad Logan and Chris Bernier.
The announcement from Universal Pictures didn't offer anything in the way of plot details, but the very existence of sequels means that there is more to this story and the video confirms as much, saying that "The saga of Michael Myers and Laurie Strode isn't over." That sets these next two films up to continue their violent and personal vendetta that seemed like it could have ended with Michael trapped in the fiery basement in last year's reboot-quel.
We know that there were some unused ideas from Halloween that the team wanted to save for a sequel, like those involving Dylan Arnold's Cameron Elam so we'll have to wait and see if they come into play.
Although the franchise, or this iteration of it at least, didn't end with Halloween, it certainly seems like it could end after this trilogy. Halloween Ends has quite a bit of finality to it, and while Michael and Laurie will undoubtedly both make it out Halloween Kills, the same may not be true for Halloween Ends.The announcement of two more films and having basically the same creative minds for all three sets this up to be a great trilogy with a real planned out arc for the characters, which is exciting.
Although the cast for the Halloween sequels has not yet been announced, we can rest assured that it seems like Jamie Lee Curtis will be back as she is onboard once again as executive producer. The actress had previously said that if David Gordon Green was making another Halloween and he wanted Laurie Strode back, she'd be there and so he is.
All in all, this announcement is great news and a bit of a relief after we heard that Blumhouse didn't yet have the rights to make Halloween sequels. Jason Blum was working hard to make it happen and that apparently paid off. The signs were good, with Jamie Lee Curtis sharing a photo with Jason Blum and rumors, proven true today, that two sequels were incoming, but it's nice to have confirmation.
The Halloween franchise appropriately returns to the it's titular holiday season with Halloween Kills, opening on October 16, 2020 and Halloween Ends, in theaters on October 15, 2021. For movies hitting theaters a little sooner, check out our premiere guide.
