By: Ben McBride
A version of this post appears on monsterpopcorn.com.
Jamie Lee Curtis released this picture on her Instagram feed with the caption, “First shot. @halloweenmovie Halloween 40 years later. Same slate. Same Laurie. David Gordon Green directing from his script. Happy Halloween 2018 everyone. See you all 10/19/18 #halloweenmovie.”
Pretty freaking exciting, right? I’m just going to assume you find this exciting.
While Monster Popcorn is undergoing some significant changes and won’t be used to report news like I used to, I may still post the occasional article about something I’m really excited about happening in the film industry. Today, that’s the new Halloween. John Carpenter’s Halloween is essential to my love of the horror genre and, to my best recollection, it was my first full-fledged horror movie experience as a kid. Carpenter and his movie have been very influential to me.
With that said, holy shit! I cannot wait for this movie. With the pedigree of a filmmaker like David Gordon Green behind the camera — having co-written the new film with Danny McBride (a curveball, sure, but an interesting one) — and John Carpenter back on board as a producer and providing the score for the movie…and Jamie Lee Curtis returning as Laurie Strode…and Nick Castle taking up the mantle of The Shape again…I…AM…PUMPED (the excited kind — not the Hans & Franz* kind)! Oh yeah, did I mention horror uber-producer Jason Blum is backing this one along with Blumhouse Prouductions’ Director of Development (and Shock Waves co-host) Ryan Turek? This new entry is shaping up rather nicely, I must say. See what I did there? “Shaping up” as in The Shape…because Michael Myers…oh never mind.
The intent behind this film is to ignore all the sequels and pick up where the original left off — but 40 years later — and I’m really interested in seeing what Green and McBride (no relation) have in store for us. A new entry in the Halloween franchise could have easily been another cash grab, but their involvement leads me to believe this new movie might have something more to it and I’m quite intrigued. And it’s coming out in the thick of Halloween season to boot. It’s like Christmas…but scary!
Some die-hard fans may not like the fact that this movie is essentially erasing all the continuity since the original film — Halloween III: Season Of The Witch remains unaffected as it has nothing to do with Michael Myers (and is an entirely awesome movie in its own right) — but, as much as I like the sequels to various extents, they have increasingly gotten unnecessarily mythological. So I’m totally fine if I view the sequels as a “what if” timeline, or if others view this new film as a “what if” should they prefer the original series remain intact in their minds. Regardless, your enjoyment of the franchise isn’t going anywhere, no matter what they do with this new movie. You’ll either have a new film to like or another one to forget. Personally, I’m really hoping that John Carpenter’s Halloween and David Gordon Green’s Halloween turn out to be the Rocky/Rocky Balboa of this horror franchise, i.e. the essential films.
deadringerspodcast.com 
I just love how JLC never tries to run away from her horror roots like so many well-established actors often do. I LOVE that she’s still interested in being a part of the Halloween world and that fuels my fandom hard. I can’t WAIT for this movie.
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Agreed! She never treats it as something that’s beneath her or something she’s just doing for the fans. It’s just as important to her and that’s awesome.
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