Death Has Come To Your Little Sequels: Curtis Is Ready To Close The Book On Laurie Strode In 'Halloween Ends'

Everyone's entitled to one good scare, but Halloween Ends could be Jamie Lee Curtis' last.

It may be hard to imagine folks getting sentimental over a franchise that begins with a young boy in a clown mask hacking his half-nude sister to death. But as horror fans creep closer to the fall release of Halloween Kills, many are looking back on the long and winding road to the latest bloody massacre in the small, perpetually-doomed town of Haddonfield, including its biggest star. Curtis reportedly told Total Film, "I would say, given what I know about the next movie, I think it will be the last time that I will play [Strode]."

The actress has battled Michael Myers in five films of the Halloween series, at one point succumbing to the slasher icon but getting saved by the retcon machine in 2018 with David Gordon Green's Halloween (which has the same title as John Carpenter's '78 original but functions as its direct sequel). It was a Blumhouse banger, making millions upon its sub-twenty million dollar budget and got the audience seal of approval for the Boogeyman to continue slicing and dicing on the big screen. Halloween Kills, out in October after a slight delay, brings back Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode along with her lead co-stars Judy Greer and Andi Matichak to reprise their original characters. James Jude Courtney also lumbers back onto the scene as the Samhain scourge himself.

Terror Train Pulling Into the Station

Could it mean the character might meet a grisly end? It's happened before: Strode has met the ugly end of Michael's blade before in Halloween: Resurrection, only for Green and co-writer Danny McBride to Etch-A-Sketch the whole brother-sister backstory business in the spirit of Carpenter's more mysterious original. Curtis reassures Total Film, "...I'm not saying something like, 'Oh, because I die!' It's nothing to do with that. I'm talking about emotionally what they have constructed. I think it will be a spectacular way to end this trilogy."

It seems that the fictional Laurie Strode is ready to rest, as well. According to Green, the upcoming Halloween Kills will be focusing more on Laurie's daughter Karen (played by Greer) and granddaughter Allyson (Matichak); as the vigilant survivor spent most of Halloween's runtime building Thunderdome in her house and then finally using it, the matriarch will be recovering and rehydrating this go-round. Let's hope that Green will make Strode's hospital stay more pleasant than Carpenter did.

Papa's Got A Brand New Mask

In a major win for horror fans, Michael Myers graced the cover of Total Film Magazine sporting a freshly singed Shatner mask that The Shape caught on his way through Laurie's house of horrors in 2018. His emphysema worsened as well: despite being blown to kingdom come by the women of Halloween '18, Myers' labored breathing can be heard at the film's end, signaling a sequel. It seems that no one can stay dead in this genre, so there's always a glimmer of hope for those unready to hear Strode's swan song.

Halloween Kills will stalk into theaters on October 15, 2021, and the final chapter, Halloween Ends, will drop on October 14, 2022.