Halloween Kills, a 2020 sequel to 2018's Halloween reboot, casts Anthony Michael Hall as an adult Tommy Doyle, a role previously played by Paul Rudd. It's been a long, crazy road for the Halloween franchise, as the venerable horror property heads into its twelfth and thirteenth installments. Few would argue that any of the follow-ups have come close to director John Carpenter's original 1978 masterpiece, but regardless, horror devotees worldwide still love to see Michael Myers return to slash more and more victims.
For a quick refresher, Halloween (1978) was followed by a direct sequel in 1981, then an extremely weird Myers-less spinoff in 1982. The iconic villain returned for three connected sequels in 1988, 1989, and 1995, before the franchise was rebooted for the first time with 1998's Halloween H20. This also saw the return of Jamie Lee Curtis' Laurie Strode, after she was killed offscreen prior to Halloween 4. H20 got a sequel in 2002 that saw Laurie killed onscreen, followed by a divisive Rob Zombie-directed remake in 2007, which got its own sequel in 2009. Whew.
Last year of course brought fans Halloween (2018), directed by David Gordon Green, and again featuring the return of Curtis' Strode. Carpenter also returned as producer and composer. Halloween (2018) was a direct sequel to the 1978 movie only, and ignored all the other entries. Recently, Blumhouse announced that the story would continue with 2020's Halloween Kills and 2021's Halloween Ends. Now, Variety reports that former Brat Pack member Anthony Michael Hall has been cast as Tommy Doyle, who Laurie famously babysat in the original film.
Halloween fans will recall that this isn't the first time Tommy Doyle has returned as a grown-up, the first being in 1995's Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers. The character was played by Paul Rudd around the time his Clueless role first propelled his Hollywood career upward. Rudd has of course gone on to reinvent himself as a comedic performer in films like Anchorman and Knocked Up, and of course play Ant-Man in the MCU. For his part, Hall has kept busy since his days in 1980s hits like The Breakfast Club and Weird Science, including playing the lead in USA's long-running series The Dead Zone, as well as appearances in films like The Dark Knight and shows like Agents of SHIELD.
While some had hoped that Tommy's previously rumored return to the franchise would lead to Rudd coming back, that really wouldn't have made any sense, since Halloween 6 didn't happen in the current continuity. Plus, and no offense meant to Hall, who certainly isn't aging poorly in his own right, but Rudd's notoriously youthful appearance means he really wouldn't look much older than he did in 1995. It remains to be seen how Tommy Doyle will factor into the story of Halloween Kills, but one wonders if he'll meet the business end of Michael's kitchen knife.
Source: Variety