Exciting news for horror fans today.John Carpenter, director of the original 1978 horror classicHalloweenis returning to the franchise as an executive producer. This latest reboot, which was once calledHalloween Returns, is now at Blumhouse, with Miramax co-financing development and production.Malek Akkadwill produce the sequel under his Trancas International Films banner. Blumhouse founderJason Blumis also producing.
The newHalloween moviedoes not have a set release date yet. Miramax, who continue to hold onto worldwide distribution rights, will determine a theatrical release plan in the near future. Though, there appears to be some confusion as to whether or not this is a true sequel to the original featuringMichael Myersas the iconic slasher, or if this is yet another reboot of the franchise. In a statement,John Carpenterhad this to say, hinting that this will be the ‘10th’ sequel.
“Thirty-eight years after the original Halloween I’m going to help to attempt to make the 10th sequel the scariest of them all.”
Theoriginal Halloweenfranchise kicked off in 1978 and has since spawned a number of sequels over the past 5 decades. They include 1981’sHalloween II, 1982’sHalloween III: Season of the Witch(which didn’t include Michael Myers), 1988’sHalloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, 1989’sHalloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers, 1995’sHalloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, 1998’sHalloween H20: 20 Years Later(which brought Jamie Lee Curtis back to the franchise}, andHalloween: Resurrectionin 2002, which marked the last of the original films in the series. Anyone who can count sees that is 7 true sequels to the Michael Myers legend, with one spinoff in the mix.
In 2007,Rob ZombiedirectedHalloween, a traditional remake that retold the legend of Michael Myers. He followed this up in 2009 with the sequelHalloween II. This bring the total of films in theHalloweensaga to 10 over all, making this next quasi-sequel remake film number 11. If it is a true follow up to the 1978 original, it will be sequel number 8, if it doesn’t follow Michael Myers it is sequel number 9. And if it is another reboot, it is actually sequel number 11. So we’re not sure what is going on. And perhaps neither are the makers behind the new movie. It’s all a little confusing.
Over the past 5 decades, theHalloween franchisehas been quite lucrative for Miramax, pulling in $400 million at the worldwide box office. Jason Blum is excited about finally bringing the series home. He had this to say.
“Halloween is one of those milestone films that inspired everyone at our company to get into the world of scary movies. The great Malek Akkad and John Carpenter have a special place in the hearts of all genre fans and we are so excited that Miramax brought us together. We cannot wait to find and collaborate with the right filmmaker to give Halloween fans the movie they deserve.”
John Carpenteris overseeing the creation and production of this latestHalloweeninstallment. He will be joined byDavid Thwaites.Deadlinecalls the movie a straight up reboot. No director is in place at this time, and a writer is not mentioned. It is stated that the project is going out to interested filmmakers almost immediately. And the nextHalloweenis being fast-tracked. Now, who might be the best woman or man take on this franchise next?
