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John Carpenter returns to the Halloween franchise for new sequel

The iconic filmmaker will join forces with Blumhouse for the film, the studio behind the highly successful likes of Paranormal Activity and The Purge

Clarisse Loughrey
Tuesday 24 May 2016 03:43 EDT
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A legend returns.

And we're not talking about Michael Myers. Halloween's original director, and iconic filmmaker, John Carpenter is returning to the horror franchise of his own making; after years of disappointing rehashes and bizarre tangents.

He'll executive produce a new sequel for the franchise, SlashFilm reports; with Dimension Films losing rights to the series, Blumhouse productions suddenly revealed they'd be teaming with Miramax to co-finance a new Halloween movie. Joyous news for any diehard fan, considering Blumhouse are ruling the contemporary horror game; thanks to hits Paranormal Activity, Sinister, and The Purge.

The film does, indeed, have Blumhouse chief Jason Blum also producing; who's own credits include The Conjuring and Insidious. Malek Akkad, who produced many of the latter Halloween sequels, also joins the project. Carpenter stated of the news, "38 years after the original Halloween. I’m going to help to try to make the 10th sequel the scariest of them all," though this will technically be the 8th sequel considering both Halloween films directed by Rob Zombie are considered reboots.

As monumental as Halloween's influence on the horror franchise has been, it will certainly be interesting to see how a new film would work in the genre's current landscape; one that's arguably significantly mutated since the 1978 film, though last year's It Follows seemed a very recent throwback to the slasher's traditions.

"Halloween is one of those milestone films that inspired everyone at our company to get into the world of scary movies," Blum stated. "The great Malek Akkad and John Carpenter have a special place in the hearts of all genre fans and we are so excited that Miramax brought us together. We cannot wait to find and collaborate with the right filmmaker to give Halloween fans the movie they deserve."

The film is set for a 2017 release.

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