Since the announcement that Halloween Kills would be released in theaters and on Peacock on the same day, the internet offered its usual round of chatter. Some have expressed joy in seeing the new slasher film at home, adding to the seasonal spooks, while others feel that this release isn’t helping the theatrical experience of the film, and some feel it could even hurt the box office performance.
In a recent interview with Collider, producer Jason Blum opened up about the release of the latest entry in the Halloween franchise. Blum plays no games and wholly owns up to being the one who decided to give Halloween Kills a day-and-date release.
“It was my idea to do it. [Peacock] didn’t approach me. I approached them,” Blum confesses to Collider. “I, like everyone else, am a big believer in the theatrical experience. I think eventually I think there should be windows. I think Universal’s strategy of the three-week window is a great strategy, but I had a bad distribution experience with Freaky. That movie is a great movie, and it didn’t get seen because the distribution of it got all twisted up. My fault.”
While some fans online have expressed their displeasure in this release strategy, the producer doesn’t feel this is a mistake: “I didn’t want to go through that experience again. I didn’t want to have a movie that I’m really proud of that I think is great and have there be an excuse why people didn’t see it. So I’m the one who pitched Universal. And then I pitched Jamie and David, and it was my idea. I stand behind it. I’m glad that we’re doing it.”
Blum does go on to add that this release isn’t going to stick for the franchise: “I don’t want it do it for [Halloween Ends]. I want to go back to traditional windows, but COVID is incredibly unpredictable, and I didn’t want to risk it again. I felt like I did that with Freaky, and it left me with a bad taste in my mouth. So I don’t want to repeat that experience.”
Who knew that the release of Freaky back in 2020 could impact the release of a fall 2021 film? Halloween Kills will hopefully fair better in the eyes of Jason Blum than its slasher peer, but only time will tell. Fans can see the Michael Myers sequel on October 15th.
Minutes after Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), her daughter Karen (Judy Greer), and granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) left masked monster Michael Myers caged and burning in Laurie’s basement, Laurie is rushed to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, believing she finally killed her lifelong tormentor. But when Michael manages to free himself from Laurie’s trap, his ritual bloodbath resumes. As Laurie fights her pain and prepares to defend herself against him, she inspires all of Haddonfield to rise up against their unstoppable monster. The Strode women join a group of other survivors of Michael’s first rampage who decide to take matters into their own hands, forming a vigilante mob that sets out to hunt Michael down, once and for all.
Halloween Kills is directed by David Gordon Green from a script by Green and Danny McBride and sees Jamie Lee Curtis (Laurie Strode), Judy Greer (Karen), Andi Matichak (Allyson), Jibrail Nantambu (Julian), Kyle Richards (Lindsey Wallace), Nancy Stephens (Nurse Marion), Charles Cyphers (Sheriff Brackett) and Nick Castle and James Jude Courtney (The Shape) all reprising their roles, while new additions include Anthony Michael Hall (The Dead Zone) as Tommy Doyle and Robert Longstreet (The Haunting of Hill House) as Lonnie Elam.
