Laurie Strode is one of the original scream queens of the horror genre, and her 43-year saga may finally be coming to an end this October in Blumhouse's Halloween Ends.
"I would say, given what I know about the next movie, I think it will be the last time I will play [Laurie Strode]," Jamie Lee Curtis told Total Film magazine. "And 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."
Of course, it wouldn't be the first time Laurie has died in a Halloween movie; previously, she died in a car accident prior to the events on Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, and she died again Halloween: Resurrection when she was stabbed and thrown off a roof by Michael (the Halloween franchise has a notoriously convoluted timeline because of the many retcons and reboots).
John Carpenter's original Halloween premiered in 1978 (on Oct. 31 of course). While many critics initially dismissed the movie, it went on to spawn 11 sequels and spinoffs (12 with the release of Halloween Ends) and became a cornerstone of the slasher subgenre and the horror genre as a whole. Curtis's Laurie has appeared in many of the movies and is one of the most recognizable characters in the franchise, save for the knife-wielding killer Michael Myers.
While Curtis's comments seem to have spoiled in part what happens to her character, the people behind Halloween Ends wanted to assure audiences that the movie will have plenty of surprises. "I get engaged by doing something different," director David Gordon Green said. "If I was just going to be repetitive, I would hand the reins off to someone else. When you have that opportunity within an established franchise, it’s really fun to think about how you can show different tones and perspectives and evolve."
Curtis previously discussed how Halloween Ends' story centers on the concept of legacy, specifically the "legacy of evil" and how it "infects an entire community." The theme of legacy appears particularly apt if the movie is in fact Curtis's last time playing Laurie. However, the Halloween franchise itself is expected to live on, as producer Ryan Freimann has already hinted at the possibility of multiple spinoffs.
Halloween Kills slashes its way into theaters Oct. 15, while Halloween Ends arrives Oct. 14, 2022.
Source: Total Film magazine, via GamesRadar+