John Carpenter Confirms One Major Condition on Directing Another Movie

Filmmaker John Carpenter has delivered audiences a number of veritable masterpieces, thanks to films like Halloween, The Thing, and They Live, though it’s been more than a decade since he’s directed a movie, leaving fans to wonder if he could ever helm another film. Carpenter recently confirmed how he’s still open to the possible idea of directing again, but in addition to having the necessary time and budget to make such a movie, any project would also have to allow him to watch not just the regular NBA season, but also accommodate for him being able to watch the playoffs.

When asked by Variety about plans to direct again, Carpenter confirmed, “We might see something, but [plans] are shrouded in total mystery, like Skull Island in King Kong. But, yeah, I’m open to it, given that it’s honestly budgeted and there’s plenty of time to do it — and that people allow for the basketball season and the playoffs.”

The filmmaker also confirmed what his perfect day would be to the outlet, which would be “get up late, watch a little news, play a video game, watch some basketball, go to bed,” so with nothing related to moviemaking being part of that perfect day, it doesn’t sound like such an idea is currently a priority.

Despite how long it’s been since Carpenter has directed a film, he’s still keeping quite busy. He has released multiple albums of original music, while also going on multiple world tours in support of these releases. Carpenter returned to the Halloween franchise to serve both as a composer and director on David Gordon Green’s recent trilogy of films, while also crafting the score for the most recent adaptation of Stephen King’s Firestarter.

Anyone who has been following Carpenter’s career in recent years likely won’t be surprised by his disinterest in directing again. Back in 2019, he detailed how his lack of interest is largely based in how time-consuming and exhausting making a movie is.

“That’s the problem, see. I’m old. It’s tough,” Carpenter revealed to ComicBook.com about his lack of interest in directing.

When discussing the possibility of merely writing a project without directing it, Carpenter clarified, “No. That’s hard work also. See, you’re talking about hard work.” He added, “Come on, man, you’re talking about a lot of work.”

At one point, Carpenter was reportedly involved in directing an adaptation of his comic book series Tales for a Halloween Night, though development on that project has stagnated.

Would you like to see the filmmaker return to directing? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!