The plan was for the recent Halloween reboot/sequel to be turned into a trilogy, with Halloween Kills due in theaters in October 2020 and Halloween Ends following in October of 2021. Series star Jamie Lee Curtis would return as Laurie Strode, and David Gordon Green, who directed 2018’s Halloween, would also helm both sequels. John Carpenter, who co-created the characters and directed the first two movies, would provide a new version of the franchise’s famous piano score.

That was the plan.

Then came coronavirus. Today, Carpenter and Green jointly released a statement announcing that Halloween Kills would be delayed by an entire year. “If we release [Halloween Kills] in October of this year as planned,” they wrote “we have to face the reality that the film would be consumed in a compromised theatrical experience. After weighing our options, we have chosen to push the film’s theatrical release by one year.”

As a consolation prize, Carpenter also tweeted an early teaser for the film, showing Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, and Andi Matichak as Laurie, Karen, and Allyson in the moments after 2016’s Halloween ended. Would you believe Michael Myers didn’t die after all?!? Shocking, I know.

Jamie Lee Curtis wrote that she is as “disappointed” as fans in the delay “mostly because the movie the David has created from the characters that John and Debra created Is a masterpiece.”

The announcement didn’t specify when fans can expect Halloween Ends, but noted that “preparation” on the movie “has begun as well.” And Carpenter and Green did promise fans that even with the delays, Halloween Kills is “a wild and vibrant production” and “a creative playground” that yielded “an unexpected entry into this franchise.” Its eventual release date might be the most unexpected part of all; coronavirus looks harder to snuff out than Michael Myers.

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