The Forever Purge Moves Up Release Date

As studios continue to update and rearrange their upcoming slate of releases, the recent delay of Top Gun: Maverick from its July 2nd release date has caused an opening that The Forever Purge aims to capitalize on, with the upcoming sequel in the franchise now slated to hit theaters one week earlier than its previous July 9th release date. This isn't the first film in the series to open during the July 4th weekend, as both 2016's The Purge: Election Year and 2018's The First Purge opened the first weekend of July, while the first and second films had June and mid-July release dates, respectively.

The film was originally slated to hit theaters last summer, and while the coronavirus pandemic spread across the country and movie theaters around the world remained shuttered, the fifth film in the franchise failed to offer any updates. Just two months before it was supposed to hit theaters, and with no official promotional materials having been release, the film was pulled from the release schedule.

Now that theaters have reopened and vaccinations are being distributed around the world, movie studios feel more confident in sticking with release dates, even if select theaters won't be operating at full capacity. While The Forever Purge was previously slated to open in competition with Marvel Studios' Black Widow, releasing a week earlier will give the film more of a buffer between the highly anticipated Marvel Cinematic Universe film.

Director of the new film, Everardo Gout, shared earlier this year what audiences can expect from the upcoming installment.

"'I want my intentions to be crystal clear on what I think about violence and what's going on in the world.' That's what he told me," Gout claimed about his advice from series creator James DeMonaco to Total Film. "It's dystopian, but he's trying to get us to look in the mirror. It makes you think, 'Sh-t, if I get pushed into a corner, would I do the same?' Once you open that door, how do you close it again?"

He added, "It's an amazing story of Latinos and Americans coming together to overcome despair and evil."

Stay tuned for details on The Forever Purge before it lands in theaters on July 2nd.

Are you looking forward to the new movie? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!