The upcoming Halloween marks the 11th entry into the saga and, based on early buzz, won’t be the final installment. During a recent Twitter Q&A, producer Jason Blum claimed that there are currently no plans for the sequel.
In a tweet that has since been deleted, Blum replied to a fan who predicted the new film would make $100 million opening weekend and lead to a sequel, “We don’t have a plan, but I love your question.”
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This comment raises some questions about the series and could potentially have multiple interpretations.
One interpretation is that Blum merely didn’t want to claim there were more films on the way without seeing whether or not this film resonated with audiences. Over on his personal account, Blum responded to a similar question about whether we’re getting more films by saying, “I really hope so.”
Another way of reading the initial response is that this specific film wasn’t left open-ended, therefore this timeline wouldn’t allow for a follow-up film. In that regard, it would mirror the trajectory of director John Carpenter’s original Halloween.
When his 1978 film was a success, Carpenter knew that the studio would move forward with a sequel whether he was involved or not. As to not completely abandon the property, Carpenter reluctantly agreed to write Halloween II, hoping to kill off the Michael Myers character for good.
“I had to write the second movie, and every night I sat there and wrote with a six pack of beer trying to get through this thing,” Carpenter recalled to Deadline in 2014. “And I didn’t do a very good job, but that was it. I couldn’t do any more.”
The third film then abandoned Myers completely, resulting in audience confusion, which caused the studio to bring the character back for the fourth film, remaining the key component of all subsequent films. This year’s sequel, however, ignores all previous sequels and takes place 40 years after the events of the original, creating an alternate narrative timeline.
Possibly contradicting Blum’s comments, co-writer Danny McBride, claimed this film was originally envisioned as two films.
“We were going to shoot two of them back-to-back. Then we were like, well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. This could come out, and everyone could hate us, and we’d never work again,” McBride shared with Entertainment Weekly. “So, let’s not have to sit around for a year while we wait for another movie to come out that we know people aren’t going to like. So, we were like, Let’s learn from this, and see what works, and what doesn’t. But we definitely have an idea of where we would go [with] this branch of the story and hopefully we get a chance to do it.”
Whether this means all of his ideas for the two-part endeavor were rolled into one film or if many ideas are still being held onto remains a mystery.
Ultimately, it seems as though the creative team behind this new film is more focused on delivering audiences one fulfilling chapter before planning ahead for how the series will continue.
The new Halloween will hit theaters on October 19th.
Are you hoping for more sequels in the franchise? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!
