The modern age of cinema where name value and audience recognition is king above all else means that no marketable property is ever truly over, and even when a movie is touted as being the final installment of a particular series, nobody really tends to believe it. So it’s hardly a shock to discover that James DeMonaco has confirmed he’s already started working on a sixth entry in The Purge franchise.
The filmmaker has written all five installments to date, as well as directing the first three, but there was a brief period of time when next week’s The Forever Purge was being touted as the grand finale. However, we’re also talking about a brand that’s brought in $446 million at the box office on combined production costs of just $35 million and spawned a TV spinoff that ran for two seasons, so the end hardly felt truly nigh.
In fact, Frank Grillo revealed earlier this year that he’d spoken to DeMonaco about a potential return to the fold for a sixth outing having starred in the second and third films, so movement was clearly happening behind the scenes. In a new interview, DeMonaco admitted that he was planning on The Forever Purge to mark the end of the line, before he was struck with a sudden burst of inspiration.
Between you and I, man, I really intended for this to be the last one, up until 4 months ago when I woke up and had an idea for six. I had this idea, I can flip this thing upside down and we can continue this, maybe, in a way that people can enjoy. I’m actually outlining it right now in between these interviews. If the Movie Gods say, ‘People want to see it’, then we’ll do it. But I always leave it to the audience to tell us if they want more of it. But we’re ready. I have another one if they want it.”
The Purge has never had to do much in the way of box office legwork in order to become profitable, and should the latest chapter fare well by the standards of the COVID-19 era, then Blumhouse and Universal will no doubt be on the phone to DeMonaco shortly afterwards to see how he’s getting on with that idea of his.
