Picture having the opportunity to meet your greatest cinematic idol - in particular the director of your favorite film of all time. Now imagine that meeting being the opportunity for you to pitch said creator on a new film to continue the classic's legacy. That's exactly the scenario in which Halloween co-writer Danny McBride found himself in the making of the recent horror blockbuster, and while his concept eventually won out, he was seriously afraid of John Carpenter treating him like a young punk. McBride recently offered his account of the encounter, saying,
I don’t think in my head I ever thought we’d actually be able to make the film, so it became very real when we started walking up the front steps of John Carpenter’s office. I think I turned to David [Gordon Green], and it was just this panic moment of realization of like, 'We’re about to meet John Carpenter, and one of our heroes of filmmaking could quite possibly laugh in our face.' And John just kind of said, ‘Alright, let’s hear it,’ and just wanted us to get down to business.
You could imagine the pressure on Danny McBride and Halloween co-writer/director David Gordon Green, as they were walking into a meeting with the man who created the epic horror that is Michael Myers. With a reputation for not suffering fools, John Carpenter can be intimidating to those who don't know what they're doing. Lucky for them, and the rest of the world, they knew exactly what they were doing.
As David Gordon Green explained to Vice during a paired interview with his fellow filmmaker, he and Danny McBride had a clear vision in mind when it came to the Halloween sequel they wanted to make. This was shown in their decision to ignore every single sequel in the series, as they wanted to be the only sequel to John Carpenter's 1978 original. Such a choice not only gave audiences something new and fresh to look forward to, it gave the series a new lease on life; one that Carpenter clearly appreciated, given his ultimate involvement with the project as a producer and composer. Considering his history with the franchise only extended to writing Halloween II and producing Halloween III: Season of the Witch, it's not a huge shocker that he was okay with the bulk of everything else being junked.
All it took to win over John Carpenter for Halloween's 2018 sequel was two things: a chance to indulge in his passion for music, via the film's score, and the opportunity to set the franchise's history straight. Danny McBride and David Gordon Green gave him both opportunities, and the rest is now noteworthy cinema history.
Whether any potential follow ups past this point will have that much luck remains unknown. But for now we at least have two Halloween films that John Carpenter personally approves of - both now available on home video for your personal enjoyment.
