Although Sinister still reigns supreme for me, this writer’s other favorite franchise to have been brought to us by Blumhouse Productions is easily that of The Purge. And while it may have gotten off to a slow start with its first attempt, I personally feel the two sequels that followed tapped the full potential of the concept that sees all crime legalized for one night out of the year. Chock full of edge-of-your-seat moments and social commentary, it’s no wonder why I and others keep coming back for more.
If you’re up to date on the films, then you’re well aware of how the Purge itself was set to be abolished after the events of the third flick, Election Year. Given that, I pondered how the series could continue, but all questions were answered once the next installment was unveiled as a prequel, that being The First Purge.
Naturally, this chapter zero of sorts allows for much wiggle room, as it takes place years before the first movie. That said, series creator James DeMonaco had this to say about what the future may bring when recently speaking with Entertainment Weekly:
“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.”
Though you may not need us to tell you that the studio will continue rolling out more movies if indeed the prequel proves successful, now is as good of a time as any to talk about the TV series he brought up. Having already caused some concern by intending on exploring what’s going on during the other 364 days of the year, it’s nice to be given assurance by DeMonaco, who says there’s still much mayhem to be witnessed:
“I’d say it’s 70, 65 percent Purge Night and then 30 percent flashback. We follow four what-seem-to-be separate storylines of people going out on the evening and experiencing the Purge. The real estate of the 10 hours of the TV allows us to use flashback, where we flashback out of the Purge world, into the regular lives, the non-Purge days, of this future America. We get to see who these people are when it’s not Purge Night and the events that led them to where they are on the particular Purge night that we are following. I think it’s a great device.”
As for when the legend will continue, know that The First Purge arrives in theaters on July 4, with the TV show following at some point down the road on USA and SyFy.