The Next Purge Film Will Finally End The Franchise

Since The Purge blasted into cinemas five years ago, the franchise has been going from strength to strength. We’ve seen three successful sequels and a TV show that’s currently airing on USA. This success is largely down to the hard work of James DeMonaco, who created the concept of 12 hours where all crime is made legal, directed the first three movies, wrote all of them and has had heavy involvement in the direction of the TV series. But now it sounds like he might be getting a bit Purge-d out.

In an interview with EW, DeMonaco explained that he thinks the next movie will be the last, saying:

“I have it in my head.  think I’m going to write it. I think it’s a great way to end it all. We want to end it all, I think, in this one, and I’m very excited. When I came up with the idea and pitched it to everybody, they seemed psyched, and I think it will be a really cool ending, how we take this one home.”

It’s previously been rumored that the fifth film would be about a heist taking place on Purge night, presumably using the fact that all crime is legal to pull off a really big robbery. Whether this is the plotline that DeMonaco’s thinking of or whether he’s come up with something else remains to be seen.

In addition, he’s previously made some rumblings about ending the franchise only to walk it back a little later. Earlier this year, while working on The Purge TV show, DeMonaco said:

“About five months ago, I would have said that [I was done with the Purge movies]. Then we started writing all these scripts for Purge TV, and I realized how many Purge stories could be told, and what it is a metaphor for, and realized, maybe not? I don’t know if I’ll direct any more but I do like still writing Purge, so I think maybe, maybe.”

My opinion is that if there’s one immutable law of the universe, it’s that low-budget and wildly profitable horror franchises can never truly die. I mean, Syfy just announced they’re resurrecting Critters and Killer Klowns from Outer Space. My bet is that we might go a couple of years without a Purge movie, but then the offer of giant sacks of cash might well tempt DeMonaco back to the writing desk to see what else can be done with such a tantalizing and cool concept.