‘Halloween’ Sequel Filmmakers Nearly Killed Off Franchise Icon

This year’s Halloween brings back actors Jamie Lee Curtis and Nick Castle from the original film, though with Donald Pleasence’s passing in 1995, Dr. Loomis will be absent from the film. Original director John Carpenter recently confirmed that writers David Gordon Green and Danny McBride originally intended to kill off the character, which Carpenter talked them out of doing.

“Originally they were going to have Donald Pleasence’s character get killed. And I thought, ‘That’s a mistake. The audience won’t like that. That’s a revision I don’t think we should do,’” Carpenter shared with Collider. “So that was my one big contribution… I thought the fans are gonna get pissed off at that. I don’t think you have to even deal with the ending of my movie; just start the movie where they did. I think that [director Green] did great.”

While Curtis might be the more recognizable face of the franchise, Pleasence had scored more appearances in the franchise than the Laurie Strode actress, with Curtis finally catching up to the actor with this year’s film. The two have both starred in five films in the series.

Pleasence’s last appearance was in Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, which gave the actor a disappointing sendoff. That film originally ended with the reveal that a nefarious spirit had possessed the body of Michael Myers, with the film’s final moments depicting that spirit making its way into Loomis, finally leaving Myers at peace. This ending didn’t sit well with audiences, leading the studio to re-shoot large chunks of the film.

Making matters even more disappointing is that Pleasence passed away before the reshoots took place, forcing the studio to awkwardly edit the footage they had already captured, resulting in Loomis’ off-screen death.

Loomis won’t be appearing in the new film in any incarnation, though Green teased that astute viewers might recognize hearing the character off screen.

“We have a Donald Pleasence soundalike,” Green shared with Yahoo!. “Because obviously he’s no longer with us, but having someone that could mimic his voice was a fun challenge. And we nailed it, I think. If I do say so myself. And then there’s a couple other [nods to the past films]. There’s a vocal cameo you may or may not notice till the end credits.”

Fans can check out the new Halloween when it lands in theaters this Friday.

Are you glad the filmmakers opted out of killing Loomis? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!

[H/T Collider]