Halloween Kills Producer Still Pushing for Film to Hit Theaters in October Despite Coronavirus Concerns

The coronavirus pandemic saw a number of films that were slated to debut this spring be pushed to the fall or even into next year, with even a majority of highly anticipated summer releases being delayed into 2021 or have even failed to earn updated release dates, with Halloween Kills producer Jason Blum recently sharing his hopes that the film can still hit its intended October 16th release date. There's a lot of uncertainty about the movie theater industry for the foreseeable future, as some theaters will begin to reopen in the coming weeks with limited capacities, but with the coronavirus still spreading across the world, it's unclear when theaters will be operating at full attendance.

"I don't know how it's coming out but I'm hoping and still pushing for it to come out still in October," Blum shared with Entertainment Tonight.

This past March, virtually all movie and TV productions shut down to adhere to quarantine precautions, delaying them indefinitely, though some films that were in production were able to wrap principal photography just ahead of those restrictions being imposed. One of the film's co-writers, Scott Teems, confirmed that the film was in a good enough state to have assembled a rough cut.

"I really can't say anything about it, but I am really excited about it," Teems shared with Movie Web. "I saw a rough cut of it a few weeks ago, and I'm a little biased, but my gut says that people that like the last one will be very excited about this one. It's like the first one on steroids, I guess. It really is the bigger, badder, meaner version of the first one."

Halloween Kills does have the benefit of being four months away from its planned release, with Hollywood having time to experiment with highly anticipated releases to maximize the success of Halloween Kills ahead of that release. The new film isn't the only horror release expected to hit theaters this fall, as other new entries into beloved franchises are also slated to be released.

A Quiet Place Part II was scheduled to hit theaters this past March, only for theaters to begin closing the week before its release, as it even earned press events and screenings shortly before its release. It is now slated to hit theaters on September 4th. Similarly, a new Candyman was originally supposed to hit theaters on June 12th, though it has since been pushed to September 25th. Some rumors have even emerged that, due to the uncertainty surrounding the releases, the films could debut day-and-date in theaters and on VOD platforms to optimize availability.

Halloween Kills lands in theaters on October 16th and Halloween Ends lands in theaters on October 15, 2021.

Do you think the film will still hit theaters as expected? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!