After James DeMonaco, the creator of The Purge franchise, teased a sixth Purge film to Daily Dead last year, actor Frank Grillo is further fueling the fire. Grillo, who starred as Leo Barnes in The Purge: Anarchy and The Purge: Election Year, spoke with Empire Magazine about the upcoming sixth film, according to Screen Rant. The interview will be published in Empire Magazine's February 2023 issue.
In June 2021, DeMonaco spoke with Daily Dead, saying, "I pitched it to my producers, Sébastien and Jason. They both really liked it, Universal liked it, so I think I’m going to write the next one, and if the audience wants it, we’ll do it. I always say if the cinema gods want us to do it, they’ll tell us, 'Let’s proceed.' Again, I think I came up with a new way to flip the whole thing upside down, and it’ll be five years after this film, but it takes America in a whole new direction and I think it would be a very interesting place to explore. It also brings back a character from the previous films, which is fun.”
Based on Grillo's recent words, it seems like the "cinema gods" have spoken, and the film will be made. In addition to The Purge franchise, Grillo is known for portraying Brock Rumlow in the MCU. He has also appeared in the films The Grey, Warrior, and James DeMonaco's This is the Night. About the newest sequel, Grillo said:
"[I’ve] got one more [Purge movie] left. James [DeMonaco] has the script. It focuses on the Leo Barnes character, and he wants to direct it. We’re working with Universal to see if we can pull this off before I’m in the old folks’ home.”
2021's The Forever Purge was originally marketed as the final film in the franchise, but it seems that DeMonaco has always had a sixth Purge film in mind. In 2013, DeMonaco began the popular franchise by writing and directing the action-horror franchise with The Purge starring Ethan Hawke. The first film was a huge commercial success, grossing over $89 million against a $3 million budget. While DeMonaco served as the writer and director on the film's first two sequels, The First Purge was helmed by Gerard McMurray, and The Forever Purge was directed by Everardo Valerio Gout. DeMonaco also developed a TV series titled The Purge for USA Network in 2018, which ran for two seasons and followed similar events to the film franchise.
While waiting for more upcoming details about the sixth film in The Purge franchise, check out Collider's 2021 interview with Grillo.