The 2018 Halloween movie not only brought Michael Myers back to the big screen, but also reunited Jamie Lee Curtis with the character of Laurie Strode and ignored every sequel made since John Carpenter’s original 1978 classic. It became a major success and kicked off a new trilogy. But when writer/director David Gordon Green first told co-writer Danny McBride that he wanted to bring Halloween back, McBride’s immediate reaction was basically: Absolutely not.
In a recent appearance on Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend (you can watch a clip in the embed above), McBride looked back on the experience of making Halloween and admitted that he initially thought relaunching the franchise was a terrible idea. Considering how much he loved the original movie, he was understandably worried about what could happen if they got it wrong.
Danny McBride Didn’t Want to Relaunch Halloween
McBride and Green had known each other since college, so when Green was approached about making a new Halloween, he naturally reached out to his longtime friend about the idea. McBride’s first response was not exactly enthusiastic.
“I was like, no way,” McBride recalled. “We shouldn’t relaunch Halloween. It’s a terrible idea. I love Halloween. Don’t do that.”
But once McBride started thinking about it, his attitude changed. If somebody was going to make another Halloween, why couldn’t they try to come up with a version that actually worked?
That eventually led to McBride, Green, and their collaborator Jeff Fradley sitting down and figuring out what their Halloween would look like. McBride had previously described the process as fairly organic, with the three longtime friends asking themselves what they would actually want to see from another movie in the franchise. That was the beginning of the movie that would eventually become Halloween (2018).
Danny McBride Had to Pitch Halloween to John Carpenter
Coming up with a Halloween movie in a room with your friends is one thing. Walking into John Carpenter’s house and telling him what you think should happen with his creation is something else. McBride said that he normally isn’t particularly nervous about pitching ideas; if somebody doesn’t like one of his pitches, that’s just part of the business.
This was different. As he and Green approached Carpenter’s house, McBride realized that this wasn’t just another pitch meeting.
“I’ve never really been nervous about pitching an idea ever,” McBride said. “But suddenly, as we’re knocking on his door, it’s like, ‘Oh God, I think I’ll be crushed if he doesn’t like what this idea is.’ I’m meeting him and pitching him this idea of like, ‘We have an idea of what we want to do with something you’ve made.’”
Fortunately, Carpenter liked what they were pitching. McBride has described the meeting before as both terrifying and exciting, recalling that Carpenter listened to their idea and gave them his blessing.
In the new interview, McBride remembers the experience as being almost surreal. He went from being a lifelong fan of Halloween to writing a follow-up.
“It was so funny to be sitting there like writing on that script and you’re just writing, you know, ‘The Shape walks into the room,’” he recalled.
McBride Was a Halloween Fan Long Before He Made It
McBride told Conan that his connection to the franchise began when his babysitter made him watch Halloween when he was five years old, with the lights turned out. He said the experience helped form him, making his involvement in the 2018 movie more meaningful than just another screenwriter getting handed a popular franchise. He wasn’t just trying to figure out how to make another Michael Myers movie, he was trying to figure out how to make a Halloween movie as someone who had loved the original since childhood.
That’s also why the decision to ignore the previous sequels wasn’t taken lightly. McBride said he loved those movies in their own ways, but the 2018 film gave him the chance to return to the original and continue that story.
Jamie Lee Curtis Saying Yes Was Another Surreal Moment
Getting Carpenter’s blessing was one hurdle. Getting Jamie Lee Curtis back as Laurie Strode was another. McBride and Green wanted to build their story around what had happened to Laurie after the original Halloween, turning her into a hardened survivor who had spent decades preparing for Michael Myers to return.
Curtis eventually agreed to come back, something McBride has previously recalled as another moment when he and Green could hardly believe what was happening.
The ridiculous idea that McBride had initially dismissed was becoming an actual movie, and it was a movie being made with the involvement of two people who were central to the original: Carpenter and Curtis.
The Halloween Premiere Was the Moment McBride Could Finally Relax
Even after the movie was finished, McBride wasn’t completely convinced that everything was going to work. He wasn’t just worried about critics or box office numbers, he was worried about what the fans would think of what they had made.
At the Toronto International Film Festival premiere, McBride has recalled being incredibly nervous and proud as he watched the movie with an audience. He wanted the fans to respond to it the same way he had responded to the original. Eventually, during the second half of the movie, the audience started cheering and applauding. That’s when McBride knew they might actually have pulled it off.
After initially thinking that relaunching Halloween was a terrible idea, the lifelong fan had helped make the movie that brought Michael Myers and Laurie Strode back together for another fight. Not a bad outcome for an idea he initially wanted everyone to leave alone.
And McBride wasn’t finished with Michael Myers yet. He went on to continue his collaboration with Green on the next two movies in the trilogy, Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends. McBride co-wrote Halloween Kills with Green and Scott Teems, then returned as a co-writer on Halloween Ends alongside Green, Paul Brad Logan, and Chris Bernier. So that terrified walk up to John Carpenter’s front door led to McBride helping shape not just one new Halloween movie, but an entire new chapter of the franchise.
What do you think of Danny McBride’s Halloween story? Are you glad he got involved with the 2018 film, and the two sequels that followed? Share your thoughts on the recent Halloween trilogy by leaving a comment below.
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