'Halloween Ends' writer-director teases 'intimate, atmospheric conclusion' to Strode-Myers saga

"Atmospheric" is certainly an adjective one might associate with the Halloween film franchise, but what about "intimate"? While teasing out Halloween Ends for the October 2022 issue of Empire Magazine, director, co-writer, and executive producer David Gordon Green used both descriptors for the final chapter in the saga of Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and Michael Myers (James Jude Courtney).

"If our second film [Halloween Kills] was free-for-all, violent chaos, this is a more intimate, atmospheric conclusion," he said, explaining that while the odds are very good that the property will continue on in some way, he's only interested in providing the best sendoff possible. "There have been a lot of slasher movies since 1978 and I want this to be different from all of those. I want this to be something people don't get in ripoffs or reboots or even in my other [Halloween films]."

Set four years after the events of the first two movies, Ends begins in a period of relative calm for Laurie. Now living with her granddaughter, Allyson (Andi Matichak), she's begun writing her memoirs, while working hard to move on from a traumatic past that has negatively impacted her life for over 40 years. The specter of Michael Myers once again casts a shadow over Haddonfield when local teen Corey Cunningham (Rohan Campbell) is accused of murder.

"I speak with John [Carpenter] and Jamie Lee Curtis regularly about it," added Gordon Green, who shares screenplay credit with Danny McBride, Paul Brad Logan, and Chris Bernier. "It's exciting, uncertain, satisfying, and sad. I've enjoyed the ride, but it's probably time to get off. I think we're gonna go out with a bang." That "bang" has yet to be determined because the final edit — which is slated to hit theaters and Peacock next month — "changes every day," admitted the director. "In theory, the picture is locked, but this morning I called the editor and said, 'What if we do this one thing...?'"

As for getting off the Halloween rollercoaster, the filmmaker doesn't have much say in the matter, given that he's slated to helm a rebooted Exorcist trilogy that will see Ellen Burstyn step back into the Oscar-nominated role of Chris MacNeil.

Curtis is an executive producer on Halloween Ends alongside Gordon Green, McBride, Carpenter (also composing the music with his son, Cody Carpenter, and godson, Daniel Davies), Ryan Freimann, Ryan Turek, Andrew Golov, Thom Zadra, and Christopher H. Warner. Jason Blum, Malek Akkad, and Bill Block are producers.

Adopting the hybrid strategy of its predecessor, Halloween Ends will simultaneously open in theaters and on Peacock Friday, Oct. 14.

In the meantime, check out Halloween II and Halloween III: Season of the Witch, now streaming on Peacock.