Jamie Lee Curtis gets candid about her Halloween comeback.
Curtis’ first played final girl Laurie Strode in John Carpenter’s seminal 1978 slasher, going on to appear in sequels Halloween II (1981), Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998), and Halloween Resurrection (2002). Strode’s time in the franchise seemingly ended with the 2002 film, but Curtis ended up reprising the role for Blumhouse’s reboot trilogy in 2018 from filmmaker David Gordon Green.
Now, speaking at a SXSW panel (via Variety), Curtis delves into her decision to return as Laurie for 2018’s Halloween reboot. “The only reason I am sitting in this chair today is because of Jason. Jason Blum, who runs Blumhouse, is the one who brought back the Halloween movies,” she says.
Curtis makes clear that she’s thankful for the career resurgence that Halloween helped to bring about, but says she originally thought it was going to be just one movie, not three. “If they had come to me and said it’s going to be a trilogy,” Curtis admits, “I don’t think I would have said yes.”
Though appreciative of Blum, Curtis doesn’t mince words when it comes to his cost-effective way of making movies, which includes limiting how talent is paid. “Jason Blum is notoriously cheap,” she says. “How do you make low-budget movies? You don’t pay people. That’s the model.”
Blum has been open about the Blumhouse model in the past, explaining that talent is often heavily compensated with backend points on a film. This allows the movies to be made for cheap while opening the door for larger payouts for the projects that become box office hits.
Curtis continues: “While we were editing and doing the mix, David [Gordon Green] said, ‘You know it’s a trilogy.’ I was like, ‘Uh, no.’ I went to Jason Blum and said, ‘I have some ideas, maybe you could give me a first look deal, just pay me a little money. I said to Jason, ‘How about a little development deal?’ And I owed him two ‘Halloween’ movies, so what was he gonna say?”
Curtis describes the deal she ultimately received as a “vanity deal,” which included a producer credit. The working relationship between her and Blum remained strong, however, and she ended up bringing an NPR story to Blumhouse that ended up becoming Apple TV’s The Lost Bus starring Matthew McConaughey.
Though Curtis may have been caught off guard by the plans for a Halloween trilogy, the films were generally successful. The 2018 entry grossed an impressive $255 million, while 2021’s Halloween Kills grossed $133 million, despite poor reviews. Halloween Ends (2022), the divisive final installment in the trilogy, grossed $104 million. Still, it seems like Curtis’ time as Laurie has come to a definitive close.
- Cast
-
Jamie Lee Curtis, Nick Castle, James Jude Courtney, Donald Pleasence, Brian Andrews, Anthony Michael Hall, Kyle Richards, Nancy Stephens, Charles Cyphers, Andi Matichak, Judy Greer
- Movie(s)
-
Halloween, Halloween II, Halloween III: Season of the Witch, Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers, Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, Halloween: Resurrection, Rob Zombie’s Halloween II, Rob Zombie’s Halloween, Halloween, Halloween Kills, Halloween Ends
- Character(s)
-
Michael Myers, Laurie Strode, Dr. Samuel Loomis, Jamie Lloyd, Sheriff Leigh Brackett, Karen Nelson, Allyson Nelson, Tommy Doyle