How do you breathe new life into a dormant horror franchise that had fallen on hard times?
Simple: you construct a sequel that simultaneously honors the original classic all the while ignoring all other films in the Halloween timeline.
That is, in a nutshell, the strategy put in place by David Gordon Green and co-writer Danny McBride, who have helped spearhead the Halloween of 2018. On the one hand, it’s steeped in the rich history of John Carpenter’s seminal film, all the while taking the legacy of Michael Myers in a totally new and exciting direction.
It’s a tricky balancing act no matter which way you spin it, and while chatting to the Los Angeles Times, director David Gordon Green touched on the ways in which he hearkened back to the original Halloween movie from 1978 – exactly 40 long years ago.
What the audience can bring to it in terms of what’s going on in the world, I think, is extraordinarily complex and is going to add to a very simplistic experience. Michael Myers hasn’t evolved as a character in any way, shape or form [since 1978]; he’s the essence of evil. He has no character. He has no personality. He has no interests. He never has. He’s someone that is moving forward and reacting to the world around him, but not with any sort of conscious objective. And how the world around him reacts to his behavior is where our story comes to life.
Green and his team have clearly taken extreme care when handling Halloween‘s return. The important thing, really, was ensuring Jamie Lee Curtis returned as Laurie Strode, the original scream queen who has spent the past four decades honing her skills in Haddonfield. And now, her moment has arrived…
Halloween opens big on October 19th. How big, exactly? Between $60M and $80M, based on early estimates, and we imagine those numbers could climb higher still once the hype and excitement begins to reach a fever-pitch.
