John Carpenter shares his thoughts on whether Halloween Ends will really finish the long-running franchise. Halloween began with Carpenter’s original 1978 low-budget horror classic. The franchise then continued over multiple years and many sequels, being rebooted by Rob Zombie in 2007 and then again by David Gordon Green in 2018.
Zombie’s 2007 Halloween reboot of course received its own sequel creatively titled Halloween II. But Green’s more recent reboot has done Zombie one better, getting a pair of sequels including this year’s upcoming Halloween Ends. As that title suggests, the next Halloween entry is being sold as putting a final cap on a series that now encompasses a lucky thirteen films in total.
Carpenter has of course had little to do with the Halloween franchise over the years, beyond contributing the occasional musical score, and of course cashing the checks he still gets thanks to his original 1978 creation. And folks naturally still ask him questions about Halloween as he continues to be acknowledged as the mastermind behind the entire affair. On the subject of whether Halloween Ends will really live up to its name by ending the franchise once and for all, Carpenter gave his thoughts during a recent panel at Pennsylvania’s Steel City Convention (via ComicBook.com):
"I didn't expect there to be a sequel [to Halloween '78]. The movie business is ruled by money. [The first] Halloween made so much money, here they came again, the same guys [saying], 'Hey John, let's do another one. I guarantee you if Halloween Ends makes a lot of money, guess what? Just guess what."
Carpenter fans are obviously familiar with the director's reputation for being a very cynical and even bitter person when it comes to the business side of Hollywood. So it’s no surprise to hear him voicing an opinion about the future of Halloween that emphasizes the business side of the whole movie-making process. And indeed Carpenter has a point about the business side, as Halloween Ends only exists because Halloween 2018 and its sequel Halloween Kills were themselves hugely successful, grossing a combined $386 million worldwide.
It remains to be seen of course whether Halloween Ends puts up numbers as strong as its two Halloween franchise predecessors. But it’s safe to assume that if the movie does well, someone will try to figure out a way to resurrect Michael Myers once again. What’s less certain is whether Jamie Lee Curtis would come back to play Laurie Strode again after what presumably will be her big showdown with Myers in Halloween Kills.
The Halloween series obviously survived very well without original creator Carpenter being involved on the writing or directing end, and can easily go on without Curtis or director Green involved. Halloween even managed to exist for one movie without Myers, but Halloween 3: Season of the Witch is now looked upon as a bizarre outlier. Ultimately Myers is the one key element that makes a Halloween movie a Halloween movie, and it’s easy enough to keep casting a new actor to wear the iconic Myers mask, and continue unleashing the character to terrorize more victims in more movies for years after Halloween Ends.
Source: ComicBook.com
