Halloween might only be relegated to one night of the year (although it’s now a month-long holiday that ends on October 31), but the iconic slasher franchise of the same name is about to kickstart a brand-new era.
Halloween first emerged from the shadows with director John Carpenter’s original 1978 film starring Jamie Lee Curtis as teenage Haddonfield babysitter Laurie Strode, who comes face to face with bogeyman Michael Myers, a deranged masked serial killer who has escaped from Smith’s Grove Sanitarium to go “trick-or-treating” in his home town.
The film spawned multiple follow-ups, including a spinoff, reboots, and several sequels that offer alternative continuations of the original 1978 story.
More recent years gave us the latest Halloween trilogy from director David Gordon Green. Halloween (2018), Halloween Kills (2021), and Halloween Ends (2022) grossed a combined $498.7M worldwide against their total $63M budget.
But while Blumhouse Pictures only had a three-picture deal with Halloween, the franchise is set to continue under Miramax and Trancas with an all-new reboot and cinematic universe.
The first installment in the new Halloween continuity will be a television series – a first for the long-running franchise – which will be reportedly followed by a new movie.
Related: All the ‘Halloween’ Timelines Ranked From Worst to Best
While little is known about the television series, earlier this year, Head Of Worldwide Television at Miramax Marc Helwig told Deadline that it will be “going back to” the original, explaining that John Carpenter’s film is “the foundation” of the new series.
An online rumor claims that it will revolve around Dr. Samuel Loomis (played by Donald Pleasence in the films) and an incarcerated Michael Myers following his original 1978 Haddonfield killing spree. But this hasn’t been confirmed by Miramax.
It has also yet to be confirmed whether Laurie Strode will appear. However, as Helwig also said that the series is likely to focus on “a group of characters that we haven’t really focused on that much in recent film versions or even in a number of them”, it’s unlikely.
Either way, as the series is going all the way back to the beginning, Jamie Lee Curtis will not be reprising her role. Curtis, 65, has played Laurie Strode in seven Halloween movies: Halloween (1978), Halloween II (1981), Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998), Halloween: Resurrection (2002), and David Gordon Green’s three films.
Related: ‘Halloween’ Reboot May Trigger Anti-Woke Mob With Female Michael Myers
Now, two more Halloween installments have been confirmed to be in the works.
IGN has exclusively revealed that Boss Team Games is developing two Halloween video games – also a first for the IP.
While Michael Myers is a little late to the party, as fellow slasher franchise killers Leatherface (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) and Jason Voorhees (Friday the 13th) already have their own video game titles, it’s better late than never, as fans are thrilled at the prospect of being stalked by the Haddonfield bogeyman – or, if either one of these titles is anything like “Friday the 13th” (2017), for instance, do the hunting themselves.
That said, Michael Myers does appear as a playable character in the survival horror video game “Dead By Daylight” alongside Ghostface (Scream), Chucky (Child’s Play), and Freddy Krueger (A Nightmare on Elm Street). Laurie Strode also appears in the game.
Watch the official “Dead By Daylight” Halloween trailer below:
Not much is known about the two Halloween video games, but it has been confirmed that the original Halloween (1978) director John Carpenter, who also wrote 1981’s Halloween II and returned to compose the score for the latest Halloween trilogy (having created the original iconic theme), will be “intimately involved” in the creative process for one of the games, which is being developed in Unreal Engine 5.
“As a huge gamer myself, I’m thrilled to help bring Michael Myers to life again in this game, and my hope is to scare you silly,” Carpenter said.
Now check out some of the reactions to the announcement shared by IGN on X (Twitter):
One fan has a list of do’s and don’t’s for the game:
Please don’t be multiplayer Please don’t be online Please be single player Please be story driven Please let John Carpenter cook
Please don’t be multiplayer
Please don’t be online
Please be single player
Please be story driven
Please let John Carpenter cook— DeanoSauruz (@DeanoSauruz) August 12, 2024
Another is more swept up in the excitement to be concerned with their specific requirements:
HOLY SHITTTTTTT THIS WOULD BE MY DREAM COME TRUE!!!!!!!!
HOLY SHITTTTTTT THIS WOULD BE MY DREAM COME TRUE!!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/jP7Y8iZwo1
— Silent Dad Plays Games (@silentdadgaming) August 12, 2024
@rustle_john is only excited because John Carpenter is involved:
It would be insanely cool if these two games were actually single player instead of multiplayer only like every other horror game that’s come out. Not holding my breath though. Only thing that excites me is that it has John Carpenter involved.
It would be insanely cool if these two games were actually single player instead of multiplayer only like every other horror game that’s come out. Not holding my breath though. Only thing that excites me is that it has John Carpenter involved.
— John Rustle🥥🇺🇸 (@rustle_john) August 12, 2024
Several other users are hoping it doesn’t turn out to be “another multiplayer survival horror” like “Dead By Daylight”, and that they’d prefer something more along the lines of “Alien: Isolation”, the first-person game that pits the player against one Xenomorph.
I hope it’s not another multiplayer survival horror based experience like Dead By Daylight. Im hoping it’s a straight up single player experience like Alien Isolation
I hope it’s not another multiplayer survival horror based experience like Dead By Daylight.
Im hoping it’s a straight up single player experience like Alien Isolation
— TheFoxEssence (@TheFoxEssence) August 12, 2024
The official release for the games states that players can “relive moments from the film and play as classic characters from one of the most iconic and important horror films of all time.”
“Everyone at Boss Team Games are huge fans of horror and Halloween obviously holds a special place in the hearts of all horror fans,” said Boss Team Games CEO Steve Harris “Getting to work with iconic characters like Michael Myers and build on John Carpenter’s original vision is literally a dream come true.”
He added, “Everyone at Boss Team is thrilled and honored to be working with Malek Akkad and John Carpenter to deliver a one-of-a-kind experience that fans of the movie and video games will love.”
There are no release dates for any of the upcoming Halloween projects.
Are you excited for the Halloween video games? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!