Anyone who has been following me for years knows how much I disliked the David Gordon Green and Blumhouse Halloween […]
Anyone who has been following me for years knows how much I disliked the David Gordon Green and BlumhouseHalloween trilogy. And if you were to go all the way back to when the film was announced, you’d see how excited I actually was.
I came out of the gate pumped for the new take. Danny McBride working on the screenplay and David Gordon Green being a really unique independent filmmaker was exciting to me.
But when the powers that be decided to retcon the events of John Carpenter’s seminal 1978 classic, things started going off the rails.
And not only did they retcon Carpenter’s classic, but they also attempted something that, at the time, I reported exclusively on: the idea of shooting three films back-to-back-to-back.
Conceptually, it was actually a pretty interesting idea. Save some money, get all three films in the can, move on to other things, and then pump them out every Halloween for the next three years.
On paper, I get it.
But what it did was break the first screenplay, which wasn’t very good in the first place.
I read it.
I didn’t like it.
I didn’t hate it either, but I put a lot of trust in filmmakers to elevate material. A great filmmaker can take a screenplay and find things in it that aren’t obvious on the page. But at the end of the day, a weak screenplay almost always wins.
And that’s what happened here.
The weak screenplay got broken up, expanded, stretched, and delivered in pieces over two films. What we eventually got felt like two movies pulled from one story and pieced together as they went along.
What’s frustrating is that I actually think there are a lot of really good things in Halloween (2018).
I’ve said for years that I think there’s a watchable movie buried in there somewhere. One of the biggest problems is the editing. I think the editing hurts that movie considerably. There are good performances. Michael is great. There are moments that work really well.
But some of the core concepts were wrong from the beginning.
Especially Laurie Strode.
The entire premise is that she’s been waiting 40 years for Michael Myers to come back, and when he does, she’s vulnerable, constantly making mistakes, and finding herself in situations she should have been prepared for.
That shit was just irritating.
By the time Halloween Ends rolled around, I went into that movie with piss and vinegar. After the first two films, I wanted to hate it. Then the first five minutes happened, and I was in. I was sold. I was excited. I thought maybe they were finally going to do something different. I was completely converted. Until the movie continued. I laugh now because that’s exactly what happened. By the end, I thought it was another disaster.
And the funny thing is, I actually think Halloween Ends is probably the most interesting movie of the trilogy. I think it’s well shot. I think the performances are great. I think there are genuinely interesting ideas in there.
But as a Halloween movie, especially one that was sold as the big finale between Laurie and Michael, it completely falls apart.
This was supposed to be the ultimate showdown.
Instead, we got Michael Myers fighting a refrigerator in a kitchen.
And even the ending felt weak. It felt scared. It couldn’t fully commit. It couldn’t decide how final it wanted to be. It wanted to have it both ways.
The point I’m getting at is that a lot of fans weren’t happy.
And that’s important.
Because from everything I’ve heard over the years, the Akkads weren’t entirely happy either.
The Akkad family takes Halloween very seriously. While you can look around the horror business and point to plenty of situations where the people in charge seem more interested in squeezing every dollar possible out of an icon, I’ve never gotten that impression from the Akkads.
They care about the legacy.
They care about Michael Myers.
And they care about getting it right.
Yes, the trilogy made money. But this is Halloween. It should have made more money. It should have strengthened the brand. It should have set the table for another decade of movies. It should have created a future where Blumhouse was making more Halloween films.
Instead, that relationship appears to be over.
I reported years ago that there would not be another Halloween movie with Blumhouse involved, and everything I’ve heard since has only reinforced that.
What the Akkads want isn’t just something successful.
They want something good and successful.
Good movie.
Good filmmakers.
Good storytelling.
And that’s what brings us to the recent reports about a Halloween television series.
As has been reported, there were attempts to develop a television series centered on Michael Myers and the broader Halloween universe. Much like we’re seeing with Crystal Lake, and what other horror franchises are trying to do, the idea was to expand the mythology beyond just another movie.
There were interesting people involved.
There were conversations.
There was momentum.
But I can confirm the reports currently circulating (see below) that, as of this writing, there is no active Halloween television series moving forward.
They couldn’t find a home for it, so they’ve pulled back and are recalibrating. Could it happen someday? Absolutely. But right now, there is no Halloween television series moving forward, which leaves us with what feels like the obvious conclusion: the next incarnation of Michael Myers will likely be a movie. The source claims Paramount is the likely new home, considering the strong relationship with Miramax.
I don’t think anything has been fully decided. I don’t think a path has been carved yet. But there is clearly a desire to bring Michael Myers back, and when there’s something concrete to report, we’ll report it.
The good news is that there appears to be a genuine desire to get it right.
And while I’ve been extremely vocal about my dislike of the recent trilogy, there are fans who loved those movies, and I don’t take anything away from them. I’m glad they exist. I’m glad people connected with them. I’m glad Halloween Ends took some huge swings, even if I hated where those swings landed.
It doesn’t ruin my life that those movies exist.
They just weren’t for me.
What excites me now is the possibility of another take on the material. I’m excited to see who ends up directing it. I’m excited to see what direction they take. And maybe most importantly, I’m excited that we’re finally entering an era where studios are starting to realize that not every horror franchise needs to be rebooted from scratch every single time.
Maybe the answer isn’t another reboot.
Maybe the answer is simply finding the right story.
A franquia "Halloween" pode estar prestes a ganhar uma nova vida nos cinemas. Após anunciar uma série de TV em 2023, a Miramax decidiu reorganizar seus planos e colocou o projeto em espera, optando por um novo caminho para o futuro da saga.
