Since The Purge blasted into cinemas eight years ago, the franchise has gone strength to strength. We’ve seen four sequels (and a twenty-episode TV show), grossing a cumulative total of $450 million against a combined budget of $35 million. This success is largely down to the hard work of James DeMonaco, who created the concept of 12 hours where all crime is made legal, directed the first three movies, wrote all of them, and has had heavy involvement in the direction of the TV series. But now, with the new The Forever Purge, he’s bowing out.
This is intended to be the final movie in the franchise, continuing the plot of 2016’s The Purge: Election Year. The previous movies saw the Purge abolished (and 2018’s The First Purge was a prequel) but that doesn’t mean the horror is over. Post-Purge the divisions in society only grew, with the New Founding Fathers returning to power and reinstating the nightmare.
This new story will show a Mexican couple fleeing across the border while trying to escape a drug cartel, only to run into a group of Purge-fanatic outsiders who’re hungry for violence. Now a whole bunch of new images indicates we’re in for the usual blend of tense and bloody action.
DeMonaco says that this movie continues the political themes of the series, with its world a very dark reflection of our own. In an interview he explained that the Mexican heroes will flee into the USA hoping that the American dream still remains:
“Their journey, through intense Purge action, represents a contemplation of this question, which they won’t be able to answer until the end of the film – if they survive, of course…”
He went on to explain that, despite filming having completed before the pandemic hit, audiences will be surprised at how relevant it is:
“People who have seen an early cut are amazed that the film was completed over a year ago. I think that the film’s prescience will really frighten and grip audiences and make them ask and answer some difficult questions, even as they’re entertained and thrilled.”
We don’t have long left to find out if he’s right or not, as The Forever Purge hits theaters on July 2, 2021.