A little like time-looped heroine Tree Gelbman herself, Happy Death Day 3 is stuck at the same point right now, as the finale to the trilogy is on hold over at Blumhouse due to the second film underperforming. But it’s by no means dead, with producer Jason Blum still trying to make the project work. In lieu of any news on that front, director Christopher Landon has now teased some new details about what we can expect from the movie when it eventually gets here.
Landon spoke to Empire to discuss his upcoming film, this November’s Vince Vaughn vehicle Freaky, and shared the scoop on Happy Death Day 3. He revealed the movie’s working title, as well as promising that the delay it’s facing isn’t a major issue due to the different timeframe that the threequel works on.
“The idea for the third film is not set in the same day, if that’s a big spoiler. So it can happen later. We’re not up against a really difficult clock right now. The other movies were hard, because they were set in the exact same day, so everybody had to look the same, be the same. The pressure is off there… I guess I can give you the title without pissing everybody off,” he said. “It does not have the ‘3’ in there! But it’s called Happy Death Day To Us. That is the working title.”
Happy Death Day and HDD 2U are both set on Tree’s birthday – Monday the 18th. In the second flick, she discovers that an experimental quantum reactor is responsible for the time loop and she’s finally able to escape the day. Presumably, the third movie is set on another of Tree’s birthdays, maybe the following year, when the reactor goes on the fritz again and traps her inside the loop once more. But maybe with her friends as well this time, hence the To Us part of the title.
Landon went on to say that, though the project is “off to the side” at present, it’s something that all involved are “passionate” about making happen. The filmmaker hopes that the ever-growing fanbase for the first two will be the key in finally getting the threequel greenlit.
“It’s definitely off to the side at the moment. I wish it wasn’t, and I know that [Jason Blum, producer] is passionate about it, I know I’m very passionate about it, and I know that Jessica Rothe is really eager to do it as well. I wrote the idea for the third movie some time ago. I think we’re all excited by it, because it’s different than the other two films, and so we’re really just crossing our fingers and hoping that our fan base continues to grow, which is something that I’ve really enjoyed watching over the years, seeing more and more people discover both films. So who knows. There might be a time when it makes sense, and hopefully it’s sooner rather than later.”
Over on Twitter, Landon added that he believes his idea for the third film is “fitting during these apocalyptic times,” which maybe suggests an end-of-the-world scale. While Happy Death Day 3 isn’t coming anytime soon, at least Freaky looks to offer a similar mix of high-concept premise, humor and horror. You can catch it in theaters on November 13th.