'Halloween Kills' teaser lands as slasher sequel is delayed to 2021

The release date of Halloween Kills has become the latest victim of the ongoing pandemic and has been officially delayed from 16 October, 2020 to 15 October, 2021.

The news comes via a statement from franchise creator John Carpenter shared on Twitter, who said he was “heartbroken” to be discussing a delay.

“If we release in October of this year [2020] as planned, we have to face the reality that the film would be consumed in a compromised theatrical experience,” he wrote.

However he promised that the “wild and vibrant production” was a “creative playground” that fans will find to be an “unexpected entry into this franchise”. He also confirmed David Gordon Green’s film would be getting an IMAX release too.

To celebrate the new release date, the first teaser for the film has been released (above).

It picks up right after the end of the 2018 film, and shows Jamie Lee Curtis’ Laurie Strode, Judy Greer’s Karen Nelson, and Andi Matichak’s Allyson Nelson driven away from the burning building in which they believe they have killed Michael Myers for the last time.

However with fire engines rushing to the scenes, there’s every chance the masked murderer will make it out alive. The trailer ends with Michael turning to face the camera.

Carpenter had just this week been teasing the scale of destruction of the latest film in the series.

“The cut is done,” Carpenter told IndieWire. “They’ll mix it in New York in the next week or so. Then it will be in the can. My work is all done.

“The movie is something else,” he teases. “It’s fun, intense and brutal, a slasher movie times one hundred, big time. It’s huge. I’ve never seen anything like this: the kill count!”

In a separate interview with Empire for its new Big Screen Preview Issue, Halloween Kills director David Gordon Green said the film will see Myers wreaking havoc on the entire neighbourhood.

Read more: Halloween Kills tells ‘a complete story’

"The first one was more about Laurie's life of isolation after Michael and her attempts at revenge. It was personal,” Green said, via We Watched A Movie. “This is more about the unravelling of a community into chaos. It's about how fear spreads virally."

Halloween Kills is now coming to cinemas in 2021. This pushes its sequel Halloween Ends into October 2022.