The latest installment in the popular Halloween franchise, Halloween Ends, is set to premiere in October to the delight of horror fans, who have been eagerly waiting for a resolution to the storylines of the past two films, Halloween (2018) and Halloween Kills (2021). While the name of this installment may hint this will be the conclusion of the horror series, comments made by the initial creator John Carpenter may indicate otherwise.
In a recent interview with The New Yorker, Carpenter, who wrote, directed, and scored the initial Halloween installment, hinted that this may not be the end for his popular slasher Michael Myers and the franchise that made him famous. When asked about future additions to the film’s canon, Carpenter replied, “If a movie makes enough money, you can be assured that it will [get a sequel].”
When specifically asked if Halloween Ends would be the final installment of the franchise, he replied, “I will have to see how much money it makes!” These comments come on the heels of similar comments made by Carpenter in a past interview with the Pittsburg Post Gazette, where he said, "If the movie makes money, I don’t believe it’s the end. There’s a way of when a movie makes money, it seems to resurrect the next one." While the official synopsis of Halloween Ends leads us to believe that, after 40 years, the battle between Laurie Strode and Michael Myers will reach a violent and no doubt bloody end, Carpenter's comments leave us with the hope this may not be the final showdown after all.
The Halloween franchise's serial killer and brave final girl have captured both public fear and admiration since Carpenter's original Halloween premiered in 1978. While Carpenter has not always been involved in the films that came after, including many lacklustre sequels that fans love to hate, the two most recent, which rebooted the series to only count the first installment as canon, have done well. The most recent, Halloween Kills, grossed over $131 million since its October 2021 release.
Carpenter, whose other work includes horror classics The Thing (1982) and The Fog (1980), can rest assured that public demand for the characters he created over four decades ago will continue to terrify and captivate viewers, ensuring that another installment is a distinct possibility.
Halloween Ends premiers in theaters and on Peacock streaming on October 14, 2022.
Source: The New Yorker