Halloween Kills

Halloween Kills is a 2021 American slasher film directed by David Gordon Green, and co-written by Green, Danny McBride, and Scott Teems. It is the direct sequel to Halloween (2018) and the twelfth installment in the Halloween franchise. The film stars Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, Will Patton, Thomas Mann, Jim Cummings, and Anthony Michael Hall. The film begins on the same night where the previous film ended with James Jude Courtney reprising his role as Michael Myers whose presence has become apparent to the residents of Haddonfield. Jason Blum served as a producer on the film through his Blumhouse Productions banner, alongside Malek Akkad and Bill Block. Executive producers include Jamie Lee Curtis and John Carpenter with Carpenter also returning to compose the score with his son Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies. Before the release of the film, McBride confirmed that he and Green were originally intending to pitch two films that would be shot back-to-back and then decided against it, waiting to see the reaction to the first film. Following the critical and commercial success of the 2018 film, development on the sequel promptly began as early as October 2018. By February 2019, Teems was hired to co-write the script. The film's title was officially announced in July 2019, along with its sequel. Principal photography began in September 2019 in Wilmington, North Carolina, and concluded in November in the same year. Following a year delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Halloween Kills had its world premiere at the 78th Venice International Film Festival on September 8, 2021, and was theatrically released in the United States on October 15, 2021, by Universal Pictures. It also streamed simultaneously on paid tiers of Peacock for 60 days. The film received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the film's effects, score, cinematography, and the performances of the cast (particularly Curtis, Greer, and Matichak), but criticized its screenplay, direction, and plot. The film was a box office success, grossing over $133 million worldwide. A sequel, Halloween Ends, was released on October 14, 2022.