John Carpenter to executive produce new 'Halloween' movie

Legendary Master of Horror John Carpenter will executive produce a new movie in the Halloween series.

Carpenter began the franchise with his classic, Jamie Lee Curtis-starring 1978 slasher film Halloween, about a masked killer named Michael Myers. Miramax and Blumhouse Productions are co-financing development and production of the project. Longtime series producer Malek Akkad — whose father Moustapha produced the original film — will oversee the project under his Trancas International Films banner. The new movie will be the first Halloween film since 2009’s Halloween II, director Rob Zombie’s sequel to his 2007 remake.

“Thirty-eight years after the original Halloween I’m going to help to try to make the 10th sequel the scariest of them all,” said Carpenter in a statement.

“Halloween is one of those milestone films that inspired everyone at our company to get into the world of scary movies,” said Blumhouse chief Jason Blum. “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.”

Carpenter’s last film as a director was 2010’s psychological thriller The Ward, and in recent times he has concentrated on his burgeoning music career. In 2015, he released his debut solo album, Lost Themes, and in April put out a second collection, Lost Themes II. Just last weekend, Carpenter played a small, sold out show in Los Angeles and will officially begin a world tour in Greece on May 27. Carpenter, of course, has composed much of the music which features in his films, including Halloween, and, according to a post on Blumhouse.com, he may work on the soundtrack to the new film. The article also quoted Carpenter as saying that “Halloween needs to return to its traditions. I feel like the movies have gotten away from that… Michael is not just a human being; he’s a force of nature, like the wind. That’s what makes him so scary.”

The first Halloween cost a mere $325,000 to make but grossed $47 million, making it one of the most profitable independent movies of all-time. Although not the first slasher film, Carpenter’s movie effectively defined the unstoppable-killer genre, which would subsequently spawn both Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street, as well as many less notable imitators. Other entries in the Halloween series include 1982’s Michael Myers-less Halloween III: The Season of the Witch, 1998’s Halloween H20 — which found Curtis reprising her “final girl” role of Laurie Strode — and 2002’s Busta Rhymes-starring Halloween: Resurrection.

In addition to directing and cowriting the original film, Carpenter also cowrote 1981’s Halloween II. His other directing credits include The Fog, Escape From New York, The Thing, and Big Trouble in Little China.

You can see the trailer for Carpenter’s original Halloween below.