Although he’s handing over directing duties on the upcoming fourth instalment to Gerard McMurray (Burning Sands), franchise creator James DeMonaco will be penning the script for The Purge: The Island, and during an interview with Vulture, the filmmaker has revealed some plot details for the prequel.
“I said it’s the first experimental Purge, which I don’t know if I was supposed to say, but now I’ve said it, so you have it,” said DeMonaco, revealing that the movie will take place on Staten Island, and detail the very first Purge, a twelve-hour time period where all criminal acts are made legal.
“It’s so kick ass in its third act,” DeMonaco continued. “What’s fun too is there’s an anti-hero. More than the previous films, there’s a singular hero in this movie. This is one man’s journey, William, an anti-hero [who] was inspired by Eastwood in Unforgiven, so it’s this very cool, modern kind of badass who redeems himself through the story.”
DeMonaco also touched upon the upcoming TV show, stating that: “The movies are more like events. In the TV show I think we’re slowing it down, and we’re using this flashback structure to enter into the non-Purge lives of these people. We’re going back six months or two years or into their childhood to see some things that might’ve fed into their decision-making on this particular Purge … Ten hours is allowing us to get deeper into character and deeper into why people would actually consider violence as an option ever.”
The Purge: The Island is set for release on July 4th 2018, while the TV series is also expected to arrive next year.
Originally published September 10, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
