John Carpenter has earned the respect of film fans and filmmakers around the world for basically revolutionizing genre filmmaking on multiple occasions with films like “Halloween,” “The Thing,” “Big Trouble In Little China,” and “Escape From New York.” But as the years have gone on and he hasn’t really been behind the camera in more than a decade, the filmmaker is known now as a man who loves to speak his mind, collect paychecks, and talk about sequels.
Speaking to THR, John Carpenter continues to showcase his DGAF energy in a big way. Not only is the interview a collection of quick answers that don’t mince words, but the filmmaker also talks bluntly about how he’s not afraid of a sequel, regardless of whether or not he is the man making it.
READ MORE: Blumhouse Teaming With John Carpenter On A New Remake Of ‘The Thing’
Obviously, Carpenter has been making the rounds to talk about the “Halloween” franchise in the last couple of years. In the interview, he gives a fun answer about how he feels about that current box office behemoth.
“I feel fabulous about it,” he said. “It is also fabulous when I look up from my perch on my couch, and a check arrives in the mail. I feel extremely happy.”
Believe it or not, the purpose of the interview is to promote the new 4K UHD release of his polarizing sequel, “Escape from LA.” So, naturally, with Hollywood making updates to his “Halloween” franchise and long-in-development reboots of “The Thing” and “Big Trouble in Little China,” the question is posed to Carpenter about what film of his own he’d like to revisit with a new sequel.
“I would like to do a sequel to ‘The Thing,’ or a continuation, something like that. But I don’t know,” replied Carpenter. “See, there are a lot of things in this world I don’t know.”
Obviously, Blumhouse is working on “The Thing” right now, and it’s unclear how much involvement Carpenter has in that film. Likely, he’s just an executive producer, as he has been with the new “Halloween” films, but it would be fun to see him take another crack at “The Thing” and maybe bring back Kurt Russell for one more round. Alas, we’ll likely never see it.
That said, no matter what happens with “The Thing,” Carpenter will keep collecting checks. Gotta love it.