Halloween (franchise) - Films - Development

Development

After viewing John Carpenter's film Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) at the Milan Film Festival, independent film producer Irwin Yablans and financier Moustapha Akkad sought out Carpenter to direct for them a film about a psychotic killer stalking babysitters. Carpenter and Debra Hill began drafting a story titled The Babysitter Murders, but the title was changed at Yablans' request, suggesting the setting be changed to Halloween night and naming it Halloween instead. Moustapha Akkad fronted the $300,000 for the film's budget, even though he was worried about the tight schedule, low budget, and Carpenter's limited experience as a filmmaker. He finally decided to finance the film after Carpenter relayed the entire film to Akkad, "in a suspenseful way, almost frame for frame", and opted not to take any fees for directing the film. The low budget forced wardrobe and props to be crafted from items on hand or that could be purchased inexpensively; this included the trademark mask worn by Michael Myers throughout the film. Production designer, art director, location scout and co-editor Tommy Lee Wallace created Michael's mask from a William Shatner Halloween mask, purchased for $1.98. The limited budget also dictated the filming location and time schedule. Halloween was filmed in 21 days in the spring of 1978 primarily in South Pasadena, California. An abandoned house owned by a church stood in as the Myers house. Two homes on Orange Grove Avenue in Hollywood were used for the film's climax.

Following the success of Halloween, Yablans and Akkad began working on Halloween II, which boasted a much larger budget than its predecessor: $2.5 million. Irwin Yablans and Moustapha Akkad invested heavily in this film, even though John Carpenter refused to direct. Most of the film was shot at Morningside Hospital in Los Angeles, California, and Pasadena Community Hospital in Pasadena, California. There was initial discussion about filming Halloween II in 3-D, but the idea never came to fruition. After Halloween II was released, Carpenter and Hill were approached about creating a third Halloween film, but they were reluctant to pledge commitment. The pair agreed to participate in the new project only if it was not a direct sequel to Halloween II, which meant no Michael Myers. Most of the filming for Halloween III took place on location in the small coastal town of Loleta in Humboldt County, California. Familiar Foods, a milk bottling plant in Loleta, served as the Silver Shamrock Novelties factory, but all special effects involving fire, smoke, and explosions were filmed at Post Studios.

After Halloween III was released, Michael Myers was brought back into the franchise with 1988's The Return of Michael Myers, where he has stayed for the remainder of the series. Four more sequels would follow, between 1988 and 2002, before the series would take a break for five years. On June 4, 2006, Dimension announced that Rob Zombie, director of House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects, would be creating the next installment in the Halloween franchise. Bob Weinstein approached Rob Zombie about making the film, and Zombie, who was a fan of the original Halloween and friend of John Carpenter, jumped at the chance to make a Halloween film for Dimension Films. Before Dimension went public with the news, Zombie felt obligated to inform John Carpenter, out of respect, of the plans to remake his film. Carpenter's request was for Zombie to "make it his own ". Zombie's film would combine the elements of prequel and remake with the original concept, with considerable original content in the new film. Zombie also wanted to reinvent the character, as he felt Michael, along with Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, and Pinhead, had become too familiar to audiences, and as a result, less scary. Zombie delved deeper into Michael Myers's mythology. Michael's mask was even given its own story to provide an explanation as to why he wears it, instead of having the character simply steal a random mask from a hardware store, as in the original film. Zombie wanted to bring Michael closer to what a psychopath really is, and wanted the mask to be a way for Michael to hide.

In 2008, a sequel to the 2007 remake was announced, with French filmmakers Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Muary in negotiations to direct. Instead, Zombie was resigned to write and direct the sequel, with the film taking place directly after the end of his remake. In an interview, Zombie expressed how the exhaustion of creating the first Halloween made him not want to come back for a sequel, but after a year of cooling down he was more open to the idea. The writer/director explains that with the sequel, he was no longer bound by a sense of needing to retain any "John Carpenter-ness", as he could now do "whatever wants to do". Instead of focusing on Michael, Zombie chose to look more at the psychological consequences on Laurie after the events of the remake. As Zombie explains, after Michael murdered her friends and family, Laurie became a "wreck", who continually sinks lower as the film moves forward.