Here’s the Deal that Brought Jamie Lee Curtis Back to ‘Halloween’ 2018

The biggest horror news of the year (for us anyway) has got to be last month’s surprise announcement that Jamie Lee Curtis will reprise her iconic role as Laurie Strode in the highly anticipated new Halloween movie, to be executive produced by John Carpenter, and now we know a bit more about the the behind the scenes financial deal that brought the legendary scream queen back to Haddonfield for a killer 40th anniversary.

iHorror reports that Curtis is being paid a modest salary for her work on the upcoming Halloween film, in exchange for a slice of the profits if it is successful, the same profit-participation agreement that Blumhouse previously entered into with Ethan Hawke, star of the Blumhouse-produced films The Purge and Sinister.  So far, Hawke has earned approximately $10 million from The Purge and Sinister, which grossed $48 million and $64 million, respectively, at the domestic box office.

According to the report, if the upcoming Halloween film’s box office performance is similar to that of The Purge and Sinister, Curtis would earn approximately $5 million. However, if the film outperforms this model (which is likely), that number could move closer to $10 million.

“Whether or not you believe that Ethan Hawke is a star, a box office draw, he brought credibility to The Purge and Sinister, and they were successful,” says a source close to the Halloween production.  “Although horror films aren’t star-driven films, it helps to have a credible, recognizable face in the film, and when people think of Halloween, and the history of the series, they think of Jamie.  She’s the main draw for the new film, and she’s worth a lot of money to the series, so this kind of deal makes sense for everyone involved.  It keeps the budgets under $10 million, and it rewards success, and it motivates stars like Jamie to promote the films heavily because they’re so invested in the project at all levels.  In the horror genre, Jamie is a superstar and always will be.”

During the height of her film career, between the late 1980s and mid-1990s, Curtis’s established asking price was reportedly between $2 million and $3 million, so the new Halloween film could possibly giver her the largest pay day in her career.

Curtis, who turns 59 on November 22, earned $8,000 in 1978 for the original Halloween. She was then paid $100,000 for 1981’s Halloween II, which was the highest salary she earned during her scream queen period, between 1978 and 1981.  As star and un-credited executive producer of 1998’s Halloween: H20, Curtis earned approximately $5 million, and she was paid $3 million for her extended cameo in 2002’s Halloween: Resurrection., according to iHorror.

John Carpenter recently confirmed that the new film will ignore all of the events of the sequels and pickup after the events of the original 1978 Halloween.

Judy Greer is currently in talks to play Karen Strode, who is Laurie Strode’s daughter in the new film.

As we recently reported, Halloween 2018 will begin filming at the end of October in Charleston, South Carolina.

Jamie Lee Curtis returns to her iconic role as Laurie Strode, who comes to her final confrontation with Michael Myers, the masked figure who has haunted her since she narrowly escaped his killing spree on Halloween night four decades ago.

Master of horror John Carpenter will executive produce and serve as creative consultant on this film, joining forces with cinema’s current leading producer of horror, Jason Blum (Get Out, Split, The Purge, Paranormal Activity). Inspired by Carpenter’s classic, filmmakers David Gordon Green and Danny McBride crafted a story that carves a new path from the events in the landmark 1978 film, and Green also directs.

HALLOWEEN will be produced by Malek Akkad, whose Trancas International Films has produced the HALLOWEEN series since its inception. Green and McBride will executive produce under their Rough House Pictures banner.

HALLOWEEN will be distributed worldwide by Universal Pictures.

David Gordon Green (Stronger, Our Brand Is Crisis, Joe, Pineapple Express) will direct the new Halloween from a screenplay by he and Danny McBride (Alien: Covenant, Eastbound & Down, Vice Principals).

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.

You can read everything we know so far about Halloween 2018 here.

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

Read all of our HALLOWEEN 2018 coverage here!

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