‘Halloween Ends’ Won’t Be The Final ‘Halloween,’ Says Writer Danny McBride [Exclusive]

Universalrevealedplans for two moreHalloweensequels last week.Halloween Killswill pick up where the 2018 sequel left off.Halloween Endspromises (threatens?) to end the series once and for all. That will be the 11th sequel, and if you include the Rob Zombie remake and its sequel, there will be 13 movies total. EvenFriday the 13thhasn’t made it to 13.WriterDanny McBrideand writer/directorDavid Gordon Greenwere at WarnerMedia’s Television Critics Association party for their new HBO showThe Righteous Gemstones. /Film spoke to them about whetherHalloween Killswould really be the end, their plan for the trilog,y and new kills.

Of Course Halloween Won’t End

Seriously, no horror franchise that declared a final chapter ever actually ended.Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmarewasn’t the last one.Saw 3D/Saw: The Final Chapterwas not the last one.Friday the 13theven has two final chapters, neither of which were the last one. There has not yet been a followup toThe Last Sharknadobut give it time. McBride agrees.“I think no way and I wouldn’t want it [to end],” McBride said. “I feel like Michael Myers is such an iconic horror character, there’s a simplicity to why he’s scary that I think it will always be relevant for generations to come. I think we’re lucky enough to have a shot at it right now. I’m sure 10 years from now there’ll be another group of knuckleheads that think they have the answer to what they should do with Michael Myers next.“The only thing that will end inHalloween Killsis Green’s tenure directingHalloweenmovies. “It’ll be my last one,” Green said.

They Always Had a Plan For Three

There were rumors that Green would film twoHalloweenmovies back-to-back. McBride reveals they were originally going to go for three films.“When we first were signed up for it, we were going to originally try to do three movies back-to-back,” McBride said. “Ultimately, we were kind of all like let’s make sure we can do this one good. Then when we connected with people, we all decided let’s try to continue what we were going to do.“Green teased the arc of the trilogy. “It’s just a continuing story that’s got a beginning, middle and end. I’m excited to begin it,” Green said. “The middle is chaos and the ending is very satisfying.“Doing the sequels one at a time was the right call. Whenever sequels film back-to-back, the individual movies suffer.The Matrix Reloaded/Revolutions,Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest/At Worlds Endand even my belovedBack to the Future Part II/IIIeach could have been stronger movies with more focus (and real endings for the middle parts). Only theLord of the Ringstrilogy pulled it off.

Don’t Bother With Halloween Continuity

For those keeping track.Halloween 2018skips everyHalloweenfromHalloween IItoHalloween: Resurrection. So this quadrilogy would technically goHalloween 1978, Halloween 2018, Halloween Kills, Halloween Ends.“It’s very confusing,” McBride laughed. “It’s just a convoluted way to make everyone have to watch all of them and figure it out.”

Jamie Lee Curtis Was an Easy Sell

Speaking of declarations that are never final, Jamie Lee Curtis has retired from theHalloweenfranchise twice, first afterHalloween IIand then afterHalloween Resurrection.McBride said selling her onKillsandEndswasn’t difficult.“She was into it,” McBride said. “She believes in us so we pitched her the movies and she was down for more.“Curtis’s support of the franchise is really heartwarming.Halloween:H2Owas actually her idea, and even after that she agreed to do a cameo inResurrection. McBride and Greens movies give her a really great role, but she doesn’t need to do them if she doesn’t want to. Loyalty can be rare in Hollywood and it makes me like the Laurie Strode stories even more.

They’re Working on New Kills

If they were planning three films back to back, they must have had plenty of kills for them. They didn’t get that far, McBride said. So they’re developing all-new kills, but they’re inspired by what they accomplished inHalloween 2018.“I think from watching the first one, we’ve expanded what sort of other kills we want to see,” McBride said.Halloween Killsis in theaters July 08, 2025.Halloween Endsis in theaters June 07, 2025.