Halloween Franchise's

John Carpenter weighs in on Halloween's new direction.

Spawning from Carpenter's seminal 1978 horror film of the same name, the popular horror franchise consists of 13 movies, the most recent being 2022's Halloween Ends. Following that installment, Miramax TV boss Marc Helwig revealed in 2024 that a Halloween TV show is in the works, with the intention that it will serve as a "creative reset" for the franchise.

During a recent appearance on the Tape Delay podcast, Carpenter comments on this planned reset for Halloween, revealing that he hasn't been contacted about being a part of it. The filmmaker affirms, however, that the franchise remains "important" to him, and that he would be happy to help devise the new direction. Check out his comment below:

They haven’t asked me yet, but I sure would. And, you know, I stuck with that franchise over the years. It’s important to me, and I’d love to contribute.

Halloween Ends concludes the David Gordon Green reboot trilogy, which began in 2018 with Halloween and includes 2021's Halloween Kills. Ends, however, also serves as a direct conclusion, of sorts, to Carpenter's movie, bringing the story of Jamie Lee Curtis' Laurie Strode full circle.

In the interview with Deadline in which he revealed the planned "creative reset," Helwig revealed that the show was being fast-tracked and that he was hoping to "lock down the creative team very soon.” It's now been two years since this update, however, with no creative team having been announced.

As for the show's approach to the franchise, Helwig did reveal some intriguing details. The executive confirms that the show won't be a continuation of the Halloween Ends story, instead going back to the franchise's roots, bringing back familiar characters while also maybe focusing on some who remain unexplored. Helwig explained:

“The foundation of it is the original film, the John Carpenter movie, the characters of that film, and perhaps a group of characters that we haven’t really focused on that much in recent film versions or even in a number of them. It’s a creative reset completely and going back to the original film, as opposed to spinning out of any of the more recent film adaptations.”

With no updates in over two years, it's possible the Halloween TV show has hit a creative roadblock. No release window has been set just yet, but it's likely still several years away at the earliest. In the same interview, Helwig confirmed that the show is intended to potentially launch a cinematic universe that covers both TV projects and movies.

Despite mixed reviews for the latter two installments, Green's Halloween reboot trilogy was a financial success. This would suggest that even 48 years later, audiences remain interested in the character of Michael Myers and the franchise's signature blend of suspense and shocking kills.

While it remains unclear whether Carpenter will have any hand in what's next for the Halloween franchise, the 78-year-old filmmaker remains active with his various properties, including an Escape from New York reboot in development from director Zack Snyder. Carpenter also teased that a sequel to The Thing (1982) is in development. Those hoping for more from Michael Myers, however, evidently still have a while to wait.