In an exclusive chat, Rob Zombie’s Halloween II the franchise stalled for a while, with different scripts and concepts being developed and rejected.
Once Dimension lost the rights to the Halloween series, Blumhouse came onboard and aimed to have a new movie ready to celebrate the franchise’s 40th anniversary in 2018. Once director to wipe the slate clean and not provide Michael with a clear motive, adding to his menace.
Related: Halloween 2018 Deleted Scene Shows Just How Awful Michael Myers Is
Halloween 2018 also brought back Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode, who has spent the intervening 40 years getting ready for Michael’s eventual return. The movie set the two characters on a collision course only one would survive, but while the ending is somewhat ambiguous about Laurie's survival, it certainly appears Michael Myers escaped from the blazing trap she set for him. Now in an exclusive chat with Screen Rant, producer Ryan Turek explains the creative process that went behind the movie’s final scene.
I'll tell you what was important about that. What was important about that ending was making sure we maintain Laurie looking Michael dead in the eyes and delivering what she believes is the final death blow. And then everything else is fun gravy. It's how you're going to it. Some people, I talked to some people, and I was like "did you notice that Michael's not in that final shot when we see the burning basement?" and they go "No!" And it's like, "Ok, you're going to have to watch it again." The fun surprise was when we were in the final mix and we watched it through the entire way and we had Jamie and John and David and we were all sitting there and we watched through the credits and then you heard the breathing and it was like... clever boys. Clever, clever guys. Clever, clever.
From a franchise perspective it makes sense Halloween 2018 wouldn’t permanently put Michael out of action, and like Ryan Turek states, the film still ends on an emotionally satisfying note for Laurie. Of course, it’s still possible Michael perishes offscreen in the fire, but with the movie all but guaranteed a sequel, it’s a safe bet he made his escape.
More: Halloween Star Jamie Lee Curtis Hasn’t Heard About A Sequel - Yet
Halloween 2018 is available on home video from January 15.
