Last year, the third installment in David Gordon Green’s Halloween franchise, Halloween Ends was released. The trilogy starred Jamie Lee Curtis reprising her character, Laurie, from John Carpenter's original 1978 Halloween film. The horror flick was meant to finally conclude the franchise once and for all, by using “Ends” in the title and Curtis’ departure. However it seems like the profitable IP may just be too profitable, as Miramax is shopping around for another buyer for the rights.
In an exclusive report published by horror site Bloody Disgusting, Miramax, one of the production companies behind Halloween, is currently selling the rights to the horror series. This has reportedly led to a major bidding war between different production companies seeking to give the slasher franchise a new life once again. There have been numerous iterations of the movies over the years, but apparently there's still strong interest in the franchise.
The David Gordon Green trilogy was produced in partnership with Blumhouse Productions, one of the leading horror production companies, and was distributed by Universal. After Halloween Ends was released, so was the franchise from its distribution and production partners. Therefore, Miramax is able to shop around for a new company to revamp the Halloween movies. This would include not only cinematic potential, but also the possibility of new Michael Myers related content made for television.
The reinvention of beloved horror franchises for television is a major trend, so this idea isn’t exactly unheard of. Hulu made the scary writings of Stephen King into a series titled Castle Rock, and the Friday the 13th franchise is reinventing their source material with Crystal Lake, a summer camp style series that will be available for on Peacock. The television prospect also doesn’t rule out another film adaptation of Halloween down the road, as Miramax seems to be open to all possibilities.
We will just have to wait and see what will happen to Halloween, as Miramax is currently in the process of hearing pitches from all different potential buyers. Curtis seemed pretty set on not returning to the franchise again, but maybe a strong, unique pitch to reboot the franchise could persuade the Oscar winner to come back for one last performance. However, it could also be interesting to see a new up and coming star as the victim of Michael Myer’s small town reign of terror. Jenna Ortega made a splash in the latest Scream film, and this could pave the way for another new Scream Queen to join the horror world.
We will keep an eye on developing news on the Halloween front. In the meantime, you can check out the latest scary flick, Halloween Ends, now with a Peacock subscription. For more information on what other terrifying films are coming down the pike for spooky season, consult our feature on upcoming horror movies coming to 2023 and beyond.
