Michael Myers Is Back For A New ‘Halloween,’ But Where Does It Fit In The Timeline Of The Franchise?
On Friday, Blumhouse revealed the moment that so many horror fans have been waiting for as it released the trailer for the brand new Halloween movie. Jamie Lee Curtis returns as Laurie Strode to take on Michael Myers one last time. Fans have been gushing over the trailer, which is frightening and looks really good, but there is much more to this new film. Halloween is officially the 11th movie in the franchise, but many are wondering just where it fits in the timeline.
When October 19, 2018, rolls around, Curtis will once again appear as Laurie Strode, 40 years after she first took on the role. John Carpenter’s classic Halloween debuted in 1978 and it has spawned nine other movies in the franchise to this point, but not a single one of them will matter whatsoever.
As reported by Bloody-Disgusting, co-writer Danny McBride explained the new movie as “Laurie Strode comes to her final confrontation with Michael Myers.” Four decades ago, she narrowly escaped being killed by “the shape” as he murdered many others around Haddonfield, but the time has come for them to meet again.
For those who are fans of the sequels, though, you’re may end up being disappointed as they are being forgotten.
This new Halloween is picking up from the events that happened after the first film in 1978. Even though both movies have the exact same name, the 2018 film is going to be a sequel to the original, but 40 years later.
That being said, the new movie is going to act as if none of the following films exist:
- Halloween II (1981)
- Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)
- Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988)
- Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989)
- Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995)
- Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)
- Halloween: Resurrection (2002)
- Halloween (2007), a re-imagining by Rob Zombie
- Halloween II (2009), a sequel re-imagining by Rob Zombie
It is no surprise that Season of the Witch would be ignored, as it actually had nothing to do with the Michael Myers’ storyline anyway. The two films from Rob Zombie were a bit of a reboot/remake of the franchise with a re-telling of the story in an even more violent fashion.
Laurie Strode appears in Zombie’s films, but the role is played by Scout Taylor-Compton and not Jamie Lee Curtis. The version of the character played by Curtis has appeared in four movies in the franchise with Halloween (2018) being her fifth.
Still, it will only be her second appearance with how the new storyline is going.
Curtis even told Halloween Movies that she felt it was owed to fans who love the original movie “in that it picks up the second the [first] one ends.”
Fans of the original Halloween will notice a lot of things in the new trailer that refer back to that movie. It is obvious that John Carpenter and others involved with the movie want this one to bring about feelings of nostalgia.
- Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode
- Nick Castle returning as Michael Myers/The Shape
- References to Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasance)
- Using Haddonfield as the setting
- Someone (Michael Myers presumably) dressed as a ghost with glasses on
There are so many old-school feelings and references in this movie and it makes sense that writers and the studio decided to ignore all other sequels. When it comes down to it, Halloween (2018) fits into the timeline of the franchise right behind Halloween (1978).
Fans of the Halloween franchise can enjoy all of the movies that they want to, and they can continue to think of it as a running storyline. The only problem now is that it will truly end once they hit Halloween (2018) the second through 10th movies cease to exist in that theatrical world.
Jamie Lee Curtis is returning as Laurie Strode for only the second time, according to the timeline, and she’s ready to kill Michael Myers once and for all.
