The Happy Death Day horror movie franchise could yet return to screens, as director Christopher Landon is very keen on making a new movie happen.
Happy Death Day arrived with a bang in 2017 and immediately won over fans as one of the best movies of that year, with Jessica Rothe playing a college student stuck in a time loop around her own murder. It’s a sort of Groundhog Day, but with more knives and fewer groundhogs.
Rothe returned for 2019 sequel Happy Death Day 2U, which continued the genre-hopping tone, combining slasher movies, comedy movies, and time travel movies to hilarious, gory effect.
The franchise has lain dormant since then, but Landon has big ideas for a possible trilogy-closer that would mark a “fun conclusion” to the series – if he can convince someone to give him the cash to make it.
“I have that movie in my head, and I know exactly what I want,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s actually a bigger movie than the previous two films, and that’s part of the issue, ultimately. This third movie needs a bigger budget, but since the second movie didn’t perform as well as the first, it’s a tall order.”
Landon said he is “still holding out hope” that he is given the opportunity to continue the story of Rothe’s character Tree in the wake of her escape from the loop.
“I understand the economics of it, but I also think they’re missing the fact that we’ve gained an audience over the years,” said Landon. “People finally found their way to the second movie and realised that it was really fun. So, if we did make a third one, I think we’d have a bigger audience than they expect.”
Landon said he’d be open to making the new movie for a streaming service if that solved the financial problem, and also teased the prospect of bringing Happy Death Day together with his other riotous slasher movie Freaky for an “absolutely ridiculous” crossover sequel.
He added: “It’s possible, but we really haven’t had an actual creative conversation about doing something like that. I just know that I would do anything to work with [Rothe and Freaky star Kathryn Newton] again.”
Look, if someone wants to give Landon the cash to make all of his comedy slasher dreams come true, we’re all for it.
Happy Death Day 3 might be a long way away, but there are some great horror movies on the way this year. We’ve got all the information you need on the Scream 6 release date, the Evil Dead Rise release date, and for those who prefer a night in, check out the best Netflix horror movies.