In a full little bit of horror news that will come as a relief to some Halloween fans, and a bummer to others; Blumhouse is not interested in rebooting Halloween III: Season of the Witch.
The much-maligned and oft-debated third installment in the iconic horror franchise left the saga of Michael Myers behind in favor of an anthological approach, devised by franchise creators John Carpenter and Debra Hill. With Michael going up in flames at the end of Halloween 2, Carpenter and Hill wanted to evolve the franchise with the intent of exploring new stories under the Halloween title, each offering an original film set during the annual spooky season. Season of the Witch ditched the Michael Myers mask in favor of a story about Halloween masks designed to transform and sacrifice the children who wore them. And people hated it. Panned by critics and fans alike, the 1982 film bombed to the point of almost ending the franchise.
But in the decades since, Season of the Witch has developed a cult following full of defenders, myself included. So when I had the opportunity to pick (current Halloween producer) Jason Blum’s brain during a recent episode of Collider Connected tied to the release of The Forever Purge, I decided to find out if there was hope for me and my fellow weirdos who love one of the most contested Halloween films of all time. The answer is a resounding no, at least under the Blumhouse banner.
When I asked if the anthological approach to the legacy was of any interest, Blumhouse explained:
“Not to me. But like I said, my shepherding of Halloween - hopefully not, but currently, it’s done after the three movies. So you’ll have to ask my partner-in-crime Malek Akkad who will do Halloween from now until the end of time… he may do that, but not for me. Too hard – well, I won’t go into it, but I wouldn’t do that with Halloween.”
Naturally, as a Season of the Witch defender, I was disappointed to hear that, but for those on you on the other side of the Halloween 3 divide, you’ll be relieved to hear that when I told Blum he was breaking my heart, he didn’t budge.
“See that’s why you gotta be tough; some fans are happy, some are sad. You just gotta hold your ground.”
Blumhouse currently has two Halloween sequels on deck with Universal Pictures, Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends, following the success of 2018’s reboot/sequel. Directed by David Gordon Green, the 11th film in the Halloween franchise rewrote the canon, ignoring everything after Carpenter’s original 1979 film and bringing back original star Jamie Lee Curtis for another showdown with Michael Myers, 40 years after the horrific night that changed her life.
Green and Curtis are both returning for the upcoming sequels, which will also bring back familiar characters like Lindsey Wallace (Kyle Richards) and Tommy Doyle (now played by Anthony Michael Hall). Halloween Kills completed filming in late 2019 and was originally slated to arrive in theaters last year, but was ultimately delayed amidst the COVID pandemic. The film will now arrive in theaters on October 15, 2021. Halloween Ends hasn’t been filmed yet, but the final installment in Green’s trilogy is currently scheduled to arrive in theaters on October 14, 2022.
The Forever Purge is now in theaters and available on VOD.