John Carpenter has never stopped working, but these days his focus has been on things other than directing, the job which made his name. He hasn't directed a movie in almost 10 years. In fact, Carpenter had previously stated that he might be finished with film directing. However, now the man behind Halloween and Escape from New York says that, if the right project comes along, the 70-year-old could put himself behind the camera one more time. In fact, he's got a couple of potential ideas that could turn into that right project. Recently, Carpenter was asked if he could direct again, and his response was much more positive than we might have expected...
Sure, if it's right. Maybe. [I'm] working on a couple ideas.
John Carpenter is responsible for numerous films over the decades that have built cult followings over the years. If you're a horror fan then you probably love Halloween or The Thing. If your tastes are more action oriented then it's Big Trouble in Little China or Escape from New York. Many of Carpenter's films aren't box office smashes but he probably has more "cult classics" under his belt than any other single director. This made a lot of people very sad when back in 2016 the director implied that he was probably done directing movies.
However, John Carpenter's recent appearance on Post Mortem with Mick Garris shined a small light in the darkness as he revealed that he's actually working on a couple of things, which if they pan out, could result in him returning to the director's chair.
Mick Garris tried to press for details and John Carpenter wasn't going to give them, so we don't know anything about what these ideas are. They could be sequel ideas to previous films but Carpenter has only ever directed one sequel with 1996's Escape from L.A., so it's much more likely these are new original concepts.
At the moment, John Carpenter is working as an executive producer on a new Halloween movie, one that will work as a direct sequel to his 1978 original, but that won't take any of the other sequels into account. Carpenter has had very positive things to say about the project and it's possible this experience is what has him thinking about directing once again.
Fans of John Carpenter will certainly be excited to hear that he might direct movies again. Carpenter is certainly a unique voice and he has a devoted fan base that will show up at any theater where his movies are playing. We'll have to wait and see if either of these nameless projects ever become anything more than ideas, but we can certainly hope.
