Based on the buzz surrounding the film, built on the back of a great marketing campaign and strong reviews coming out of the Toronto International Film Festival premiere, “Halloween” not only won the box office last weekend but did so in record-setting fashion. Now, fresh off the news that the film he co-wrote has become one of the most successful horror films of all time, already, Danny McBride is opening up about potential sequels, working with John Carpenter, and the only way he would have starred in the film.
In a new interview with Deadline, McBride was asked what his thoughts are about the recent $77.5 million opening weekend, specifically, what he would have said to someone back in film school that told him he would eventually be attached to a record-setting “Halloween” film.
“I would have laughed. There’s no way in hell I would have thought we ever would have been part of this. It’s mind-blowing. Now that it’s done, it is also one of those things where David [Gordon Green, director] and I are looking at each other and saying, ‘Whew, if that had gone wrong, imagine the public flogging we would have gone through?’” said McBride.
This new “Halloween” sequel, the eleventh film in the very convoluted franchise, was particularly special due to the collaboration not only with Jamie Lee Curtis but also the series creator John Carpenter. When asked how Carpenter’s involvement helped the film, McBride talked about the previously reported beginning of the film that was changed. McBride also said that Carpenter gave director David Gordon Green some incredible advice.
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He explained, “Also helpful was his advice to David in directing it. Keep it simple, and relentless, he said. And man, this movie wouldn’t be the same without his score. It is so iconic and so fused to what makes Michael Myers work, that having him put his stamp on the movie just with his music, that really elevated the entire project.”
As mentioned, the film also saw the return of Jamie Lee Curtis as the original “final girl” Laurie Strode, who is going through a tough time four decades after her first brush with Michael Myers. McBride was asked if this film would have existed without Curtis’ involvement, and what would have been different if she didn’t star.
“It either wouldn’t have gotten made or Laurie Strode would have been turned into Laurence Strode, and that character would have been played by me. And we probably wouldn’t be having this interview right now,” McBride joked.
Hypotheticals aside, the writer opened up about what he thinks about the idea of a sequel, now that “Halloween” is poised to become not just the biggest horror film of the year, but one of the biggest films of the year, period.
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“We definitely have ideas of what we would do. I think we did not allow ourselves to really indulge those ideas until the movie came out,” he said. “We just wanted to put all our hopes and dreams in having this film stick the landing. But we do have thoughts and ideas of what we could possibly do. We hadn’t invested a ton of time on them, but now we’re being asked to figure it out. There are definitely talks on whether we will do more of them and we’re just trying to see what best makes sense.”
You better believe that Blumhouse Productions is fast-tracking a “Halloween” sequel as we speak, and hopefully McBride, Jeff Fradley, and David Gordon Green know where to take the series moving forward. We all know what happens to Michael Myers when his fate is put in the wrong hands (see – almost every other sequel).