Halloween Kills Producer Details the Decision to Release Film on Peacock

After Universal Pictures announced that they were committed to theatrical exclusive windows for their biggest movies in a big deal last year it surprised many when the studio surprise announced that the upcoming Halloween Kills would stream day-and-date on Peacock the same time it was released in theaters. Many theorized that this was due to lukewarm reviews at the Venice Film Festival, but the horror fandom are notoriously averse to critical reactions, and now we know where the idea came from at all: Jason Blum himself. Speaking in a new interview with Collider, Blum copped to conceiving of the idea himself, noting the bad experience he had on a prior release was one reason.

“It was my idea to do it. [Peacock] didn’t approach me. I approached them,” Blum told the outlet. “I, like everyone else, am a big believer in the theatrical experience. I think eventually I think there should be windows. I think Universal’s strategy of the three-week window is a great strategy, but I had a bad distribution experience with Freaky. That movie is a great movie, and it didn’t get seen because the distribution of it got all twisted up. My fault….I didn’t want to go through that experience again. I didn’t want to have a movie that I’m really proud of that I think is great and have there be an excuse why people didn’t see it. So I’m the one who pitched Universal. And then I pitched Jamie and David, and it was my idea. I stand behind it. I’m glad that we’re doing it.”

Fans thinking that perhaps this release trend will hold for the next in the series, the previously announced Halloween Ends which arrives in October of 2022, should no that’s not in the cards. Blum reiterated that this release for Halloween Kills was excusively due to the continued uncertainty many have about returning to theaters amid the spread of COVID-19. Blum went on to note that he wants to get back to “traditional windows” for feature film releases.

Little is actually known about Halloween Ends at this stage, but it was announced in tandem with Halloween Kills as being the final chapter in this new trilogy from director David Gordon Green. One thing we can infer though is that Green himself says we shouldn’t expect more of the same.

“I get engaged by doing something different,” Green previously told Total Film. “If I was just going to be repetitive, I would hand the reins off to someone else. When you have that opportunity within an established franchise, it’s really fun to think about how you can show different tones and perspectives and evolve.”  

Halloween Kills hits theaters and Peacock on October 15th with Halloween Ends scheduled to be released on October 14, 2022.