‘The Purge’ 10th Anniversary: James DeMonaco Talks The Franchise, The Political Message & Why The 6th Film Is In “Limbo” [The Playlist Podcast]

Believe it or not, it’s already been 10 years since the release of James DeMonaco’s breakout hit, “The Purge.” The micro-budget horror film would go on to earn a massive box office and devoted fanbase, spawning four sequels and multi-season TV series. And in honor of the film’s 10th Anniversary, DeMonaco joins The Playlist Podcast to talk about his 2013 hit and how a fractured country inspired him to make a film about people killing each other for sport. Oh yeah, and he also teases what might come in the future. 

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Over the course of the discussion, we dive deep into the political undercurrent of “The Purge,” from how DeMonaco came up with the idea nearly 20 years ago to the way our current political situation is starting to mirror the very scary alternate world presented in the franchise. We also talk about how Universal produced and distributed a film that other studios deemed was “anti-American.” And of course, we end by hinting at the future of the franchise and why we haven’t seen an announcement for “The Purge 6” just yet. 

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Of course, we can’t talk about “The Purge” without mentioning Blumhouse, the studio behind the film franchise. At the time, Blumhouse was still fairly young and mostly known for “Paranormal Activity.” But with “The Purge,” DeMonaco believes Jason Blum saw the chance to branch out.

“What’s great about Jason [Blum], and I’ll always stand by this, is he loves political content. And he saw [‘The Purge’] as maybe something different than straight horror, something with sociopolitical underpinnings,” said DeMonaco. “It had a metaphor. It was more like, what he loves and I love, John Carpenter and George Romero, and we were trying to smuggle some sociopolitical ideas into genre cinema…And I think he saw it as a way to do something different than the straight ghost story or demon horror.”

And much like the great films of Carpenter and Romero, “The Purge” is full of not-so-subtle political messaging. This isn’t something you typically find in a Blumhouse film or a low-budget horror film from Universal. However, somehow, “The Purge” was made and released by one of the biggest studios on the planet. So, why didn’t Universal care that DeMonaco was making big statements with his horror film? The filmmaker believes no one was paying attention. 

“To be honest, I don’t think they were paying attention,” he said. “I think they were just letting Jason do his thing. [‘The Purge’] is a $2 million film, and they’re making $100 million films simultaneously and that’s where their energy goes. We didn’t get many notes. It was the strangest thing. We were just left free to just go make the film. We actually got more notes when the film became a hit.”

Now, fans of the franchise are eagerly awaiting the official announcement about “The Purge 6.” Over the past couple of years, DeMonaco has been vocal about how the film has been written and it would serve as the return of Frank Grillo’s Leo character. However, we are still waiting for confirmation from the studio. And according to the filmmaker, it looks like we might still be waiting a bit longer.

“I wrote the script . Universal has seen it,” said the filmmaker. “There are concerns about budget, but it definitely presents a fractured America…The America I present in ‘Purge 6’ is where we all are separated by ideology and sexual preference. So, the states are broken down in different ways.”

He added, “It’s written, it’s in [Universal’s] hands. I think they’re scared about the budget. But my thing was if I was going to come back and direct a sixth one, it was going to be something bigger and a little more epic in scope, with this new America I want to present and bringing back [Frank Grillo’s] character. So, it’s kinda in limbo.” 

If you want to watch “The Purge,” you can stream the film on Peacock now or purchase it anywhere you buy movies. You can hear the full discussion below:

The Playlist Podcast is part of The Playlist Podcast Network, which includes Bingeworthy, Deep Focus, The Fourth Wall, and The Discourse. We can be heard on iTunes, AnchorFM, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, and most places where podcasts are found. You can stream the podcast via the Spotify embed within the article or click on the lead image at the top page. Follow us on iTunes, and you’ll get this podcast and our other shows regularly. Be sure to subscribe and drop us a comment or a rating, as we greatly appreciate it. Thank you for listening.