After taking up the mantle from Ethan Hawke for The Purge: Anarchy last year, Variety brings word that Frank Grillo has entered final negotiations to reprise his role as the hard-boiled sergeant Leo Barnes for Universal and Blumhouse’s The Purge 3.
Should everything go according to plan, Grillo won’t be the only one returning for another purge, with writer/director James DeMonaco on board for the third installment in the twisted horror series, due to hit theaters next summer. Cooking up another violent spin on America’s most violent – and yet legal – night of the year, DeMonaco will once again delve into the creative playground of his alternate future setting, one which imagines a scenario wherein all crime is legal for a 12-hour period.
Last we saw of Grillo’s character he was a man fuelled by revenge, though he ended up helping a group of innocent citizens who were caught in the crossfire as the annual event was unleashed on the streets of Los Angeles. Hunkering down between the hours of 7pm and 7am, Grillo and his ragtag crew were left with little choice but to remain in the shelter until the purge was finished.
Beyond Anarchy, DeMonaco is yet to share any details about the directions that The Purge 3 could take, though we can readily expect Universal and Blumhouse to maintain the low-budget, high-reward approach that worked so well the first two times. After all, last year The Purge: Anarchy pulled in over $110 million off a budget of $9 million.
Filming is due to get underway on The Purge 3 in September. Frank Grillo can next be seen in Beyond Skyline, A Conspiracy On Jekyll Island and as the villainous Crossbones in Captain America: Civil War.
