There’s a potential problem when you announce that a film will be getting two sequels to make the series a trilogy. The second movie could end up feeling insignificant because we already know the story will continue.
Speaking with Gizmodo last week, producer Jason Blum assured us that his upcoming second and third Halloween films, Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends, won’t have that problem. “I worried about it until I saw [the second one],” Blum said. “And David [Gordon Green, director] worried about it. That it would feel like, remember Lord of the Rings? Like you weren’t getting [the full story]? It doesn’t feel like that at all.”
So, what does it feel like?
“[Halloween Kills] feels like a complete movie,” he said. “There’s a first, second, and third act. It has a big end. You still know from the end of the second movie where the third movie is going, but the second movie ends in a totally satisfying way. So it doesn’t feel like, you know, that Lord of the Rings issue that they had.”
Side note, if I were you reading this right now I’d be ticked that Blum seems to be disparaging Lord of the Rings more than praising his own movie. So I get it. But the fact is when The Fellowship of the Ring came out many filmgoers thought the single movie they were paying to see would wrap up the whole saga. That sounds silly now considering there were three books, but not everyone knew to expect a trilogy at the time. And that’s what Blum is saying here: Yes, there’s a danger is not telling a full story with a third part already in the works, but he believes they solved that.
Blum also told us that the idea for the full new trilogy came before the first Halloween even came out.
“After we saw the first movie we started talking about making it a trilogy,” Blum said. “We started talking to David about ‘What if we continue this?’ And it was his idea of like, ‘I know what I would do. I would do two and three. I know what the stories are.’ And we started talking about it even before the movie came out. And then we were lucky enough to get to do it. So we finished the second one and we’re about to start the third one. I just saw the second one. It’s pretty good.”
What we still don’t know is how the hell Michael survived that fire.
Part two of this new Michael Myers trilogy, Halloween Kills, opens October 15. Part three, Halloween Ends, opens October 15, 2021 in the U.S. (Australian release date unconfirmed).
Blum’s next movie, The Invisible Man, opens February 27.