The Halloween saga brought Laurie Strode and Michael Myers’ story to an end with Halloween Ends, but the franchise’s future looks quite promising now, but it can only work with Michael Myers. The Halloween saga has gone through a couple of retcons, making way for different timelines, each trying to give closure to Michael Myers’ story. The most recent effort was David Gordon Green’s Halloween reboot trilogy, which started off strong but crashed down with Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends.
The Halloween reboot trilogy reunited the audience with Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), who had spent four decades preparing for Michael Myers’ return, alienating herself from the rest of Haddonfield. All that preparation still wasn’t enough as Michael Myers took Haddonfield by surprise and even had a copycat in Halloween Ends, but Laurie finally got her revenge at the end of the trilogy. While this marked the end of the Laurie Strode and Michael Myers timeline, it’s not exactly the end of the Halloween franchise, and now that the rights are on the market, its future looks promising again – but only with Michael Myers.
It Would Be Difficult To Continue The Halloween Franchise Without Michael Myers
According to some reports (via Bloody Disgusting), the rights to the Halloween franchise are back on the market. Miramax is shopping around the franchise and is reportedly looking to studios and streamers alike as potential buyers, giving them the option to adapt the franchise into a movie or a TV property. Whether a movie or a TV series, the Halloween franchise has to bring Michael Myers back if it wants to succeed. The Halloween reboot series is seen as the end of the Laurie/Michael story, and as the franchise already has different timelines, it’s not hard to bring Michael Myers back despite his death in Halloween Ends.
Michael Myers is not only the image of the Halloween franchise but also its essence, and it would be hard to sell a new Halloween property without Michael Myers. The franchise has already proven it can succeed without Laurie Strode, as her daughter, Jamie Lloyd, took over in Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers and Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers, but not so much without Michael. The franchise already tried with Halloween III: Season of the Witch, and while it’s not a bad movie, it’s hard to associate it with the universe of Halloween precisely because Michael Myers isn’t in it.
How A New Halloween Movie Or Show Could Focus On Michael Myers
The different retcons of the Halloween franchise have been endlessly criticized and are quite divisive, but they have also given the saga more freedom to explore different stories with Michael Myers as the villain. Because of this, there are a couple of ways in which a new Halloween movie or TV show can focus on Michael Myers, starting with another reboot. A new Halloween reboot could take place literally anywhere in the franchise, and could even fix some of the least popular timelines, like the Cult of Thorn one.
Halloween could also go for a prequel focused on Michael Myers’ past, specifically his time at Smith’s Grove Sanitarium, though that would be a major risk as a prequel shouldn’t make the audience sympathize with Michael Myers. The franchise could also follow the example of Halloween Ends and see another character take the mantle of Michael Myers, giving it a fresh start while also keeping the saga’s main character. The future of the Halloween franchise is looking bright once more, but it can also succeed if Michael Myers continues to be its main villain.
