Horror movies have experienced an insane renaissance over the course of the last few years, but the slasher subgenre has fallen oddly silent. Supernatural horror is currently reigning supreme, but whatever happened to a good, old-fashioned, knife-wielding maniac? That all seems poised to change with the upcoming Halloween film that's currently slated to hit theaters in 2018. Comedian Danny McBride is currently hard at work on the project, and it seems that the highly anticipated sequel will lean heavily into the mythology of the first two Halloween films. McBride explained:
You know, it's not a remake. It's actually, it's gonna continue the story of Michael Myers in a really grounded way. And for our mythology, we're focusing mainly in the first two movies and what that sets up and then where the story can go from there.
Danny McBride recently spoke to CinemaBlend's own Nick Venable about the upcoming release of the Vice Principals Season 1 Blu-ray, and the conversation eventually turned to his involvement in the new Halloween film. So now we can confirm that we will, in fact, see a continuation of the Michael Myers story when the new Halloween debuts (unlike Halloween III: Season of the Witch) and the story won't be a Rob Zombie-esque retelling of the slasher's 1978 killing spree. It's not much to go by, but it's enough to pretty much guarantee that we will see the Halloween franchise's central villain return to his status as "The Shape" that terrified us in the first two films. McBride continued:
Green and I are definitely going to [do] a straight-up horror. Halloween has always been one of my favorite movies of all time. There's a simplicity and an efficiency to that first one that I think allows the movies just to be scary as hell. And so Green and I, our approach is to get back to that.
Of course, if Halloween II is the jumping off point for the upcoming film, then it will at the very least need to rationalize how Michael Myers could go from a charred husk to able-bodied slasher after Dr. Sam Loomis blew him up.
However, while the film is not a remake, McBride doesn't necessarily specify if certain films have been stricken from the series. The Halloween franchise has one of the most disjointed continuities in all of horror, so it remains to be seen whether or not films like Halloween: Resurrection, will receive any acknowledgment.
With that in mind, McBride's comments don't give us much information regarding when the new film may take place. The first two Halloween movies take place on Halloween night 1978, and from there (if the other sequels are disregarded) the story could go in any number of directions. On the one hand, we could see a period piece sequel that takes place shortly after that first night of carnage. On the contrary, it's entirely possible that we could see Michael Myers emerge from hiding (not unlike Halloween H20) on the 40th anniversary of his first killing spree.
We will bring you more updates related to the upcoming Halloween movie as more information becomes available. The film is set to debut in theaters on October 18, 2018.
Before you see what McBride has in store for Michael Meyers, be sure to check out the hilarious madness of HBO's Vice Principals Season 1, which you can find on Blu-ray/DVD right now, with Season 2 set to debut later this year.
