In The Purge franchise, following an economic collapse that led to the rise of a new political party, America has become virtually crime-free thanks to something called the “Purge”, one night each year where all crime — including murder — is legal for 12 hours. The film’s message is intended to be that the “Purge” is bad, but according to creator James DeMonaco some members of the audience completely miss the message — and it is something that surprises and disturb him. Speaking with Collider, DeMonaco said that there are some fans who see the “Purge” as wish fulfillment, rather than as the morality play it’s meant to be.
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“I think the biggest thing over the course of all The Purge films is that there’s a portion of the audiences, I don’t think it’s big — I pray it’s not big — that doesn’t see that I’m telling this morality play that the Purge is a very bad thing,” DeMonaco said. “And that’s where it gets very strange. Some people see it as this odd wish fulfillment.”
He added, “I hate guns, so to me the scariest day in America could be a day where people legally could use guns.”
The Next Installment of The Purge is “In Limbo”
While DeMonaco is concerned that there are people who have missed the message of The Purge films, DeMonaco clearly feels like most audiences get it and a sixth film is meant to be on the way — it’s just currently in a sort of limbo because, per the filmmaker, the studio is “scared” about its budget. In a previous interview, DeMonaco explained that the net film is “a little more epic in scope” because the America that the story will present is much, much different than previous installments.
“I wrote the script. Universal has seen it,” DeMonaco said. “There are concerns about budget, but it definitely presents a fractured America… The America I present in Purge 6 is where we are all separated by ideology and sexual preference. So, the states are broken down in different ways.”
He continued, “It’s written, it’s in [Universal’s] hands. I think they’re scared about the budget. But my thing was if I was going to come back and direct a sixth one, it was going to be something bigger and a little more epic in scope, with this new America I want to present and bringing back [Frank Grillo’s] character. So, it’s kinda in limbo.”
Frank Grillo is Set to Return for The Purge 6
Last seen as Leo Barnes in The Purge: Election Year, Grillo is set to appear in The Purge 6 when it does happen and as the actor previously told ComicBook.com, it will be focused on the character.
“(James DeMonaco’s) got the script, man,” Grillo revealed. “The script has been written, he submitted it to Universal. Went to (Jason) Blum, Michael Bay. There’s a lot of cooks in the kitchen. But it’s Leo Barnes centric. It’s about Leo Barnes and it’s really was the Swan Song for the series. I know they’ve said that before, but James only directed one, two, and three. The last movie he directed was “Election Year” and he’s only been involved as a producer going forward from there, but he wants to direct this. I’m like, before I start walking on the cane, it’d be a good idea to do it soon. But Universal and Blum haven’t, uh, they just kind of have it on the back burner. It was hot, it was hot for a minute. It was hot for a minute, and then it wasn’t.”
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