If movie goers think they get fatigue from sequels and remakes of sci fi or comic book movies, those genres don’t hold a candle to horror!  Every year, you can expect to see a new ‘Nightmare on Elm Street‘, ‘Friday the 13th‘, ‘Saw’, ‘Paranormal Activity’ or ‘Halloween’.  But in the case of ‘Halloween’, fans may be in for a bit of a wait as major changes are happening behind the scenes.  After 20 years, Dimension Films has lost the rights to the venerable franchise.

Dimension Films (affiliated with The Weinstein Company) has held the rights to the brand since 1995, releasing the sixth film in the series, ‘Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers’.  The studio subsequently delivered 1998’s ‘Halloween H20: 20 Years Later’ (featuring the return of Scream Queen Jamie Lee Curtis, the breakout star of the very first movie), 2002’s ‘Halloween: Resurrection’, followed by 2007’s reboot simply titled ‘Halloween’, spearheaded by rocker Rob Zombie, which was followed by sequel ‘Halloween II’.

Dimension was in the process of developing a third movie, tentatively titled ‘Halloween Returns’ to be shot in 3D with ‘Saw”s Marcus Dunstan attached to direct, from a script he co-wrote Patrick Melton.  There was even talk about casting, with Gillian Jacob’s name in the mix.  But now it seems as if Miramax will reboot the franchise from scratch again, with Malek Akkad attached to produce.

The future of the franchise is up in the air, but like its lead slasher Michael Myers, don’t expect ‘Halloween’ to stay dead long.  Unlike other types of movies, slasher movies are relatively cheap to produce.  They rarely have name stars– and it’s not like most of them survive for sequels, so they can’t ask for a raise– and they don’t require much in terms of special effects.  And with an established name like ‘Halloween’ they have built-in audience appeal, with minimal marketing.

What would you like to see from the future of ‘Halloween’?  Which studio would make a better fit for the brand?

Source: Spinoff/Comic Book Resources