Horror film fanatic Gary DeWaard was one of millions of Halloween theater-goers in 2018 who felt the new story did a worthy job of erasing past mistakes and setting up a powerful new story. Here, he talks about Miramax and Blumhouse partnering to resurrect the classic franchise and transforming it into a horrific new trilogy for modern audiences.
Gary DeWaard will always think of John Carpenter’s 1978 film Halloween as the quintessential horror film. Carpenter’s direction along with his iconic score transformed the slasher genre and piqued audience members interest so intensely that a dozen films have been created in the franchise to date. Not all have been successes, as diehard fans of the franchise will be quick to tell you. However, 2018’s installment did a satisfactory job of ignoring the various failings of the sequels and remakes to create a terrifying follow-up to Carpenter’s original film.
“I remember people were nervous hearing about another Halloween remake in 2018, especially with the last Rob Zombie film upsetting many fans for it’s questionable direction,” says Gary DeWaard. “However, what director David Gordon Green was able to put together blew our minds. The now-aged Laurie strode stole the screen and had us rooting for her and her family’s survival, giving off the same feel as the original film but in a slightly new and fitting light.”
Halloween (2018) was a huge success in theaters, earning back more than $250 million on a budget of just $10 million. The movie was directed by David Gordon Green and written by Green, Jeff Fradley, and Danny McBride for the screen. In it, the production team ignored the events of the original sequels and remakes to make a direct follow-up to the original film after 40 years have passed since the initial story.
“Dimension Films, who initially owned the rights to the next installment, weren’t able to nail down a script and team in time before the rights reverted back to Miramax,” says Gary DeWaard. “Once they did, though, Miramax partnered with wildly-successful horror producers Blumhouse Pictures to create a worthy installment. Because of the new film’s success, the team was greenlit for two sequels, creating an exciting new trilogy for today’s audiences.”
The entire cast and production team behind the 2018 film have all signed up to work on the anticipated two sequels that will be released a year apart from each other. Halloween Kills, the first sequel, is set to make its debut in theaters on October 16, 2020, with the third installment, Halloween Ends, marked to hit theaters on October 15, 2021.
“The details and plot events of the films are still being kept under lock and key, but the titles likely speak volumes about what we can expect,” says Gary DeWaard. “It’s looking like the films are shaping up to leave franchise-fans with a true ending to the story, but we’ll have to wait to see exactly what that entails.”
