Jamie Lee Curtis Teases Potential Return to Halloween Franchise: ‘Never Say Never’

It seems only right on All Hallows’ Eve that Jamie Lee Curtis might be cryptically teasing another go-round with the unstoppable Michael Myers in the Halloween franchise. During a brand-new interview, the famed Scream Queen spoke about a number of her upcoming projects, including her reunion with on-screen daughter Lindsay Lohan in next year’s Freakier Friday. However, the conversation took an intriguing turn when Curtis also insinuated that she might not be done with The Shape just yet. Curtis told Entertainment Weekly:

“I have hung up my bell-bottoms and my pale blue button-down shirt. And I have relinquished [Laurie Strode] to the ages with a warm, ‘aloha,’ and a thanks for all the years and memories. And yet, if I’ve learned anything in my 65 years on the planet, it’s never say never.”

While most genre fans will always associate Curtis with Final Girl Laurie Strode from the Halloween franchise, and rightly so, the daughter of famed Hollywood heavyweights Tony Curtis (Some Like It Hot) and Janet Leigh (Psycho) started her career with guest appearances on television series like Quincy, M.E. and Columbo. However, in the late 1970s, she was best known for portraying Lt. Barbara Duran in Operation Petticoat. And then her career suddenly took a “horrifying” turn (… in the best possible way, of course).

In 1978, the Halloween film franchise hit the streets of Haddonfield for the very first time, as director John Carpenter’s horror classic arguably launched the slasher subgenre. However, movies like Peeping Tom, Black Christmas, and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre certainly had their own valid arguments to make. But one thing that wasn’t in question was that Halloween (1978) turned the virtually unknown actress Jamie Lee Curtis into a household name.

Jamie Lee Curtis’ Halloween Legacy

Following Halloween‘s financial and critical success, Jamie Lee Curtis reprised her role as final girl Laurie Strode in the saga’s much gorier and bloodier sequel, Halloween II. However, while she did appear in the film, Curtis’ character was confined to the hospital for virtually the entire movie — a mistake that would unfortunately be made again 40 years later in Halloween Kills. However, after Michael Myers seemingly burned alive at the end of Halloween II, Laurie Strode would not return to the franchise until 1998.

Halloween H20: 20 Years Later marked the triumphant return of Curtis as Laurie Strode after being noticeably absent from the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth installments of the film series. Again, Strode seemingly outwitted The Shape as she beheaded Michael Myers at the conclusion of H20. But as is always the case with horror movies, evil never really dies. And Strode is shockingly killed off by the masked serial killer at the very beginning of the next movie, Halloween: Resurrection (2002).

16 years later, filmmaker David Gordon Green righted the ship, though, as Jamie Lee Curtis reprised the role of Laurie Strode once more in the first film of his Halloween sequel trilogy. In the must-see Halloween (2018), Laurie Strode wasn’t any longer Michael Myers’ sister, a ridiculous notion that first came to light way back in Halloween II (1981).

Carpenter attributed the decision to a night of drinking heavily. Unfortunately, while the sequel trilogy started off strong, each subsequent film seemed to get worse and worse. And while Laurie survived both Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends, those last two installments focused on other characters rather than Strode.

And while Curtis won’t likely show up in the Halloween television series, the treatment of Laurie Strode in Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends is all the more reason the Academy Award-winner (Best Supporting Actress, Everything Everywhere All at Once) should return. That way, Curtis’ Laurie Strode can go out on a much higher note than the sequel trilogy allowed.

Release Date

October 27, 1978

Runtime

1hr 31min

Studio

Compass International Pictures, Falcon International Pictures, Falcon International Productions

Tagline

The Night he came home

Franchise

Halloween

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