David Gordon Green Describes Pitching His ‘Halloween’ To John Carpenter

Following John Carpenter’s announcement last month that David Gordon Green (Stronger, Our Brand Is Crisis, Joe, Pineapple Express) and Danny McBride (Alien: Covenant, Eastbound & Down, Vice Principals) will write the new Halloween movie and Green will direct, today we have a few new quotes from the duo about the project, which they are currently writing.

McBride has previously stated that the new Halloween movie will not be another remake, but in a more recent interview with IndieWire he calls the film a “reimagining”.

 Danny McBide tells IndieWire: We can’t talk for too much about the Halloween reboot, but David and I had a long talk with each other about when people do these with movies, where it goes wrong. What pisses me off when it comes to something I like? We all came to the decision that remaking something that already works isn’t a good idea. So we just have a reimagining instead.

Co-writer and director David Gordon Green adds: Jason Blum came to me. I’m a huge horror fan and I’ve never made one. I developed Suspiria for several years with Luca Guadagnino, who’s finishing directing it. It’s going to be incredible. I woke up at a hotel and had this email from Jason that said, “Halloween reboot. You get it. What do you say?” I was just like, “What the fuck does this mean?” I wrote him back and said, “Call me immediately, my body is reacting to this,” because Halloween is one of those influential movies that I was never allowed to see and lied about having not seen to my parents for years. It hit all the right taboos, and it had a lore to it. We’re just writing it now.

Green goes on to describe pitching his vision to Carpenter: The coolest part about that was going to John Carpenter and pitching him. If he didn’t like the take, it wouldn’t bode well. He’s one of my biggest heroes. I think we were just so concerned about getting the job that we didn’t think about how fucking scary that was to go sit down in front of him to tell him how we’d continue the story he’d created. It wasn’t until afterward that I realized, “Fuck, this could go so badly. We’ll be really hurt if he schools us right now.”

David Gordon Green will direct from a screenplay by he and McBride. John Carpenter will executive produce and may also score the film, with Malek Akkad producing for Trancas and Jason Blum producing for Blumhouse. Green and McBride will also executive produce under their Rough House Pictures banner. Zanne Devine and David Thwaites will oversee for Miramax, which is co-financing with Blumhouse.

As I’m sure you are well aware, 2018 marks the 40th anniversary of the release of John Carpenter’s original 1978 Halloween.

The new Halloween is scheduled for theatrical release on October 19, 2018.

What do think of Green and McBride taking over the franchise?

Keep watching this site for updates on the return of Michael Myers and the all the latest news on the next Halloween movie!

Team 'Halloween', Jason Blum, Malek Akkad, David Gordon Green, and Danny McBride.
Team ‘Halloween’, Jason Blum, Malek Akkad, David Gordon Green, and Danny McBride.

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Matt Artz

Founded Halloween Daily News in 2012 and the Halloween International Film Festival in 2016. Professional writer/journalist/photographer since 2000.