Halloween

Facts from the original

• Halloween is a 2018 American slasher film directed by David Gordon Green, who co-wrote it with Jeff Fradley and Danny McBride.
• It is the eleventh installment in the Halloween film series and a sequel to Halloween (1978), ignoring the events of every other film in the franchise.
• Jamie Lee Curtis reprises her role as Laurie Strode; James Jude Courtney portrays Michael Myers, with Nick Castle returning to the role for a cameo appearance.
• The film is based on characters created by John Carpenter and Debra Hill.
• Producers are Malek Akkad, Jason Blum, and Bill Block; music is by John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter, and Daniel Davies.
• Cinematography is by Michael Simmonds and editing by Tim Alverson.
• Production companies are Miramax, Blumhouse Productions, Trancas International Films, and Rough House Pictures; the distributor is Universal Pictures.
• The film runs 106 minutes, had a budget of $10 million, and grossed $259.9 million worldwide.
• It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2018, and was theatrically released in North America on October 19, 2018.
• It was filmed from January to February 2018 in Charleston, South Carolina, with reshoots taking place that June.
• The plot follows a post-traumatic Laurie Strode who prepares to face an escaped Michael Myers in a final showdown on Halloween night, forty years after she survived his killing spree.
• On October 29, 2018, Michael Myers, institutionalized at Smith's Grove Psychiatric Hospital for 40 years, is prepared for transfer to Glass Hill; true-crime podcasters Aaron Korey and Dana Haines visit the hospital.
• Michael escapes when his transfer bus crashes after he murders two people and steals their truck.
• Laurie Strode lives in fear, drinking heavily and rarely leaving her heavily fortified house, and has a strained relationship with her daughter Karen, whom the state took away when Karen was 12.
• On Halloween, Michael kills Aaron and Dana at Judith Myers's grave, a mechanic for his overalls, and recovers his mask.
• Allyson leaves a party after finding her boyfriend Cameron cheating and departs with his friend Oscar; Michael kills Vicky and her boyfriend Dave.
• Laurie sees Michael for the first time in 40 years and shoots him before he flees.
• Dr. Ranbir Sartain, Michael's psychiatrist and a former student of Dr. Samuel Loomis, orchestrated Michael's escape to study him 'in the wild' and is later killed by Michael.
• Michael kills two police officers outside Laurie's home and strangles Ray to death.
• In the final showdown, Karen shoots Michael in the cheek; Laurie traps him in the safe room with Karen and Allyson's help, and the trio sets the house ablaze.
• In a post-credits scene, Michael's breathing is heard, indicating that he has survived.
• After Rob Zombie's Halloween II (2009), Dimension Films developed further sequels, including Halloween 3D and Halloween Returns, but none came to fruition and the studio lost the rights.
• The rights reverted to Miramax, and Blumhouse Productions acquired them with John Carpenter's involvement.
• On May 24, 2016, Blumhouse Productions and Miramax were announced as co-financing a new film, with Universal Pictures distributing.
• John Carpenter signed on as an executive producer in 2016, saying he would help try to make the 10th sequel the scariest of them all.
• Mike Flanagan was courted to direct the film but passed on the offer.
• Filmmaker Adam Wingard discussed making a new Halloween film but dropped out.
• On February 9, 2017, David Gordon Green and Danny McBride were announced as handling screenwriting duties, with Green directing and Carpenter advising; Jeff Fradley also co-wrote the script.
• The writing team wrote about eighty drafts of the script over eight months, with rewrites taking place up until the last week of filming.
• An early draft featured Laurie's daughter Jamie Lloyd from the original continuity, but rewrites changed the character to Karen.
• Another early draft had Laurie shoot The Shape off the balcony after he murders Loomis, but Green ultimately backed down from the idea.
• Dr. Sam Loomis appears via a vocal cameo, voiced by sound-alike stand-up comedian Colin Mahan, who did Donald Pleasence impressions.
• Michael Myers's mask was built by make-up artist Christopher Nelson using a life cast of James Jude Courtney's face and was weathered and aged to reflect the character's evolution.
• James Jude Courtney based his movement as The Shape on a cat, combining Nick Castle's original performance with an efficient feline style.
• Nick Castle appears as Myers in only one scene, as the character's reflection in a window, and did all of Michael Myers's breathing sounds in post-production.
• John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter, and Daniel Davies composed the score; the soundtrack album was released on October 19, 2018.
• Universal reportedly spent an estimated $75.5 million on advertising for the film.
• The first trailer was released on June 8, 2018, followed by a second trailer on September 5, 2018.
• At San Diego Comic-Con 2018, Jamie Lee Curtis described the film as being about trauma and tied it to the MeToo movement.
• Halloween was released digitally on December 28, 2018, and on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD on January 15, 2019.
• It grossed $159.3 million in the United States and Canada and $100.6 million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $259.9 million.
• Deadline Hollywood calculated the film's net profit at $128.5 million.
• It debuted to $76.2 million from 3,928 theaters, the second-best October opening weekend ever behind Venom and the biggest Blumhouse opening at the time.
• On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 79% approval rating based on 385 reviews, with an average rating of 6.8/10.
• On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 67 out of 100 based on 51 reviews, indicating generally favorable reviews.
• CinemaScore audiences gave the film a B+, and PostTrak reported 75% positive with 65% saying they would definitely recommend it.
• The film received four Fangoria Chainsaw Award nominations, including Best Wide Release, Best Actor (James Jude Courtney / Nick Castle), Best Actress (Jamie Lee Curtis), and Best Makeup FX (Christopher Nelson).
• It was nominated for Best Horror Film at the Saturn Awards, with Jamie Lee Curtis winning Best Actress.
• Rhian Rees was nominated for Most Frightened Performance at the 2019 MTV Movie & TV Awards.
• Upon its release, Halloween became the highest-grossing slasher film in unadjusted dollars, breaking the record Scream had set in 1996.
• The film was followed by two sequels: Halloween Kills (2021) and Halloween Ends (2022).
• Halloween Kills focuses on Strode and her family forming a group of townspeople to fend off Myers; Halloween Ends was released on October 14, 2022.
• The film has been cited as an influence on 'requels' or 'legacy sequels' such as Candyman (2021), Scream (2022), Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022), The Exorcist: Believer (2023), and I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025).