Halloween Ends: John Carpenter Weighs in on Whether the Franchise Could Continue

By Patrick Cavanaugh

Much like the iconic villain Michael Myers, it's tough to kill the Halloween franchise, with the series seeing a number of sequels and reboots over the years, though the upcoming Halloween Ends surely has an ominous title, leaving fans to wonder if the series will really conclude with the third film from director David Gordon Green. The original 1978 Halloween was directed and co-written by John Carpenter, who has served as a producer and composer on Green's trilogy. As far as whether the upcoming film will truly be the end of the series, Carpenter claims the goal is to end the franchise, but if something makes money, it's hard for studios to wrap things up for good.

"Let me explain the movie business to you: if you take a dollar sign and attach it to anything, there will be somebody who wants to do a sequel. It will live. If the dollar sign is not big enough, no matter what, it will not live," Carpenter joked with ComicBook.com about what could happen after Halloween Ends. "I don't know, man. I don't know. This time, I do not know. They really want to end. They're going to shut it off, end it. It's what David has in mind. That's fine."

Carpenter co-wrote the original film with Debra Hill, with the pair also writing Halloween II. Carpenter then crafted the score for Halloween III: Season of the Witch with Alan Howarth, which marked the last direct involvement he had in the series until 2018's Halloween. Even still, Carpenter has largely allowed Green to take the series in whatever direction he wishes, while offering notes and input as requested. 

Despite this upcoming sequel being billed as the end of the series, producer Jason Blum would be happy to craft more entries into the series.

"We made an arrangement for three movies. We had a three-picture marriage with Michael Myers," Blum confirmed with ComicBook.com last year. "I would love to extend it. If Malek [Akkad] would like us, I'd love to extend it, but we're very busy making sure the third movie is spectacular because that's our immediate job and if it goes beyond that, I'd be thrilled. But there are currently no plans for us to be involved after this third movie."

As fans wait for updates on the series, they can revisit Carpenter's Escape from L.A., which lands on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray on February 22nd.

Released in 1996, John Carpenter's Escape from L.A. was the highly anticipated follow-up to the fan-favorite hit Escape from New York. Kurt Russell returns as anti-hero Snake Plissken, who is called upon to save the world from a doomsday device after a 9.6 quake levels most of Los Angeles.  

Halloween Ends is currently slated to hit theaters on October 14th. Escape from L.A. hits 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray on February 22nd.

Are you hoping the series continues after the upcoming sequel? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

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