A ton of Hollywood’s biggest upcoming films have been scrambling to find new release dates recently thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. And while there’s usually no problem in moving a big budget blockbuster back by a couple of months, Halloween Kills doesn’t really have that same luxury.
I mean, based on the title alone, it’s basically obligated to arrive right around the titular celebration and if it didn’t, well, then the marketing campaign might not make much sense. Not only that, but seven of the eleven movies from the franchise hit theaters in the month surrounding Halloween and it seems that Blumhouse and Universal are keen to maintain tradition. However, Kills will no longer be releasing this October.
That’s right. In a move that many saw coming, the film has now been delayed, with the new date revealed in the trailer up above and producer John Carpenter explaining their decision over on Twitter as so:
I know you all have been looking forward to an update on the status of "Halloween Kills". Here it is: pic.twitter.com/EWivyipYgR
— John Carpenter (@TheHorrorMaster) July 8, 2020
There are certainly some good points raised in this letter from Carpenter and director David Gordon Green and while it’s understandable why they’ve made the decision that they have, this will still no doubt be a tough blow for fans. Especially since everything we’ve been hearing about the film has been so, so promising. As we said before, though, the pandemic has already resulted in a whole bunch of highly anticipated movies being delayed and unfortunately, this probably won’t be the last one that gets bumped from its original date.
Halloween Kills will now release on October 15th, 2021, with its sequel following on October 14th, 2022. It’ll be a long wait, no doubt, but hopefully it’ll be worth it in the end.