John Carpenter Not Ruling Out a Directing Return

It’s difficult to overstate the impact filmmaker John Carpenter has had on the horror genre, not only through the films he directly developed, but also in the ways he influenced future generations of storytellers, with the figure recently teasing that he has some projects in the works, though we shouldn’t expect any of those projects to move forward anytime soon. However, he also noted how much more he enjoys making music at this point in life, based largely on just how much is required from you when you direct, so it’s tough to say whether he’ll ever helm another feature film.

“You might! I’m working on a couple of things,” Carpenter confirmed to The Daily Beast when asked if we’d see him direct again. “But I’m not doing anything for a while, until the world comes back and rights itself. It’s insane now. It’s nuts! I’m not going to go out there and get sick.”

Carpenter’s last feature film came in 2010 with The Ward, with the last thing he directed being a music video for the theme song to his film Christine in 2017. On the musical front, Carpenter has been much more active, as he’s about to release his third album of original music, having already toured the world with his previous albums.

The filmmaker went on to note the challenges of directing versus making music.

“I mean, directing is just so unbelievably hard,” the filmmaker explained. “It’s stressful, it’s physically difficult, it’s tough, and you have to be a certain kind of human being to love it—and I’m not certain I am. I love it but not in an ego way. Music is a lot more gratifying, in a way, because there it is. It’s right in front of you, and you don’t have to wait until it’s cut together and deal with an armory of people making movies.”

Despite not directing, Carpenter did produce the upcoming Halloween Kills, along with crafting its score, while he was also previously attached to direct an episode of his planned Tales for a Halloween Night TV series. That planned series fell apart at SYFY, though he previously noted that it was moving forward with other networks in mind, so it’s possible this was one of the project he was working on.

Back in 2019, Carpenter similarly detailed the time commitment that came with making a movie.

“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.”

Halloween Kills is slated to hit theaters on October 15th.

Are you hoping the filmmaker directs another movie? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!