Something I’m sure that many longtime Halloween fans have loved about the line of movies produced by Blumhouse Productions is how they’ve managed to secure the services of several franchise veterans. And to the delight of all, the sequel, Halloween Kills, has locked down the likes of Jamie Lee Curtis and Nick Castle, who’ll reprise their roles as Laurie Strode and Michael Myers, respectively.
If you’ve been keeping up with recent news regarding the flick, then you’ve heard about how Anthony Michael Hall has been cast as an adult Tommy Doyle. If that name rings it a bell, it should, because his child counterpart was babysat on “the night HE came home.”
Believe it or not, this decision hasn’t sat well with everyone, as some fans wish for the original Tommy Doyle actor, Brian Andrews, to return. After all, if Kyle Richards is doing likewise for Lindsay Wallace, then what would make this any different in their eyes?
Here’s the reasoning applied by those who’ve started a petition over at Change.org:
Blumhouse has brought Jamie Leigh Curtis, Charles Cyphers, and Nick Castle back to reprise the roles they originated in HALLOWEEN (78) yet they have the audacity to recast the pivotal role of Tommy Doyle for HALLOWEEN KILLS. Rather than casting the iconic Brian Andrews to again recite unforgettable lines like “But you can’t kill the Boogeyman,” “The Boogeyman’s outside,” and “Was that the Boogeyman?”, producers, for some inexplicable reason have cast Anthony Michael Hall to play Tommy Doyle in the new films. As HALLOWEEN purists, we find this decision to be outrageous, audacious, and wildly offensive and we must take a stand. And so, we demand producers bring Brian Andrews back to the Halloween franchise.
Actually, the producers did try to give a nod to the past by bringing back The Curse of Michael Myers star Paul Rudd, but he’s busy filming Ghostbusters 3. Though his adult Tommy has nothing to do the one in this continuity, it could be argued he’s the more recognizable face – and undoubtedly a bigger name with more drawing power. Similarly, the new hire in Anthony Michael Hall has a solid resume backing him.
At the time of this writing, 356 people have signed the petition, with the intended goal being 500. But considering how 2018’s Halloween became the highest grossing slasher movie of all time, it’ll take way, way more signatures to inspire real change.
Halloween Kills arrives in theaters on October 16th, 2020, with Halloween Ends set to follow on October 15th, 2021.