As of 2018, it's been 40 years since the first Halloween was released, so it's quite poetic that this year will welcome a new sequel starring the original scream queen, Jamie Lee Curtis. The upcoming Halloween will focus on Curtis' Laurie Strode, now a mother and grandmother, still very much defined by the events in the 1978 classic. While in John Carpenter's cutting-edge slasher Laurie barely made it out alive from Michael Myer's clutches, this sequel is especially exciting because she looks armed and ready to take on the creepy killer as he comes back to threaten her neighborhood and family. It would be an understatement to say fans are excited to see Curtis back in action as Laurie one more time in the upcoming release. And you can apparently thank actor Jake Gyllenhaal for Curtis' return to the Halloween franchise this October. Here's what Curtis said about how she joined the project:
Jake and I have been friends since he was a young boy. I think I've referred him as his 'celebrity godmother.'... and he's just been a friend for years. David made the wonderful movie Stronger, that Jake starred in and his company produced, and Jake called me out of the blue --- it was June of last year, I remember exactly where I was --- and Jake basically said, 'My friend David would like to talk to you about something regarding Halloween.' And we spoke on the phone and he started to explain it, and I said, 'You know what, just send it to me, and I will promise you I'll read it.
As if we didn't respect Jake Gyllenhaal enough for his continued incredible career in films like Nightcrawler, Prisoners and Donnie Darko, this information that Jamie Lee Curtis told Entertainment Weekly is scoring him major extra points. The mother and son type connection between Jamie Lee Curtis and Gyllenhaal is a bit of an unlikely one, but if it's the reason we get to find closure for Laurie Strode, I'm all in. It seems like a bit of fate was at work, as Gyllenhaal worked with Halloween director David Gordon Green on Stronger. He also happened to be close friends with iconic lead of the film Green was tempted to woo back to Halloween.
Jamie Lee Curtis previously revealed she was ready to say yes by page three of the new Halloween script, but she did need a little encouragement to give the sequel a chance. Because despite Curtis' huge resume of movie and television work, the 1978 original classic film still defines her career-- something the actress is both aware and proud of. Even though Curtis has appeared in other Halloween movies, Green's directorial project has decided to ignore the slew of past Halloween sequels, making his new Halloween a direct continuation to the events of the first famed slasher flick. It's sure to incite some pretty intense nostalgia for fans of the original when it's released on October 19.
