Jamie Lee Curtis has been synonymous with the Halloween movies for decades, but it turns out her return to Laurie Strode in the recent Blumhouse Halloween trilogy almost didn’t happen the way fans might think. When she first agreed to star in the 2018 requel, reboot, directed by David Gordon Green, she believed she was signing on for just one movie. Only later did she discover the project was actually planned as a full trilogy, which she was not pumped about. Still, she managed to turn that unexpected development into a big silver lining.
Taking some time off her busy 2026 movie schedule to speak at a SXSW panel (via Variety), Curtis reflected on how the new Halloween films came together and how producer Jason Blum helped revive the franchise. The actor made it clear she credits Blum with bringing the series back to life decades after the original. She explained:
The only reason I am sitting in this chair today is because of Jason. Jason Blum, who runs Blumhouse, is the one who brought back the ‘Halloween’ movies…. If they had come to me and said it’s going to be a trilogy, I don’t think I would have said yes. Jason Blum is notoriously cheap. How do you make low-budget movies? You don’t pay people. That’s the model.
The 2018 Halloween revival was a perfect example, costing around $10 million while eventually grossing more than $250 million worldwide. At the time the True Lies star signed on, however, she believed she was only committing to that single installment. While the film was still in post-production, she learned that the creative team had bigger plans for Laurie Strode’s return. Curtis continued:
Article continues belowWhile we were editing and doing the mix, David said, ‘You know it’s a trilogy.’ I was like, ‘Uh, no.’ I went to Jason Blum and said, ‘I have some ideas, maybe you could give me a first look deal, just pay me a little money.' I said to Jason, ‘How about a little development deal?’ And I owed him two ‘Halloween’ movies, so what was he gonna say?
The move secured the Everything Everywhere All at Once star a development deal with Blumhouse, allowing her to bring future projects to the studio through her company, Comet Pictures. One of the early projects tied to that deal involved filmmaker Russell Goldman, who had been working with Curtis on her first directing gig, the film Mother Nature. Goldman now works in development for Comet Pictures and recently premiered his feature directorial debut, Sender, at SXSW. According to her, seeing the Comet Pictures logo on the big screen during that premiere was a milestone moment for her as a producer.
Curtis also joked during the panel that Blum may have initially viewed the arrangement as more of a “vanity deal.” Instead, she quickly began bringing him a steady stream of project ideas. One of those came after she heard an NPR story about a school bus driver and teacher who saved 22 children during a devastating wildfire. She was immediately drawn to the story and ultimately helped bring it to the screen as the intense film The Lost Bus, streaming with an Apple TV subscription and starring Matthew McConaughey. While the movie flew somewhat under the radar with audiences, it still earned recognition, landing a Best Visual Effects nomination at the 2026 Oscars.
While Jamie Lee Curtis was not pumped to be signing on to three Halloween movies, what started as a surprise franchise commitment ended up helping her expand her producing career. Considering how successful Blumhouse’s Halloween trilogy ultimately became, despite its less-than-stellar critical response, it seems the arrangement worked out pretty well for everyone involved.
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