Last year, John Carpenter had hinted that he might be directing a new movie, telling the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he has a few projects “lined up and percolating” that will involve him flexing his skills as a director, writer and composer.
If you remember, two years ago at Cannes, Carpenter had also mentioned that he wanted to “make a little horror film”. Detailing specifically what he had in mind, Carpenter said:
“I’d love to make a little horror film that would be great or a big adventure film. It would be a project that I like that’s budgeted correctly. Nowadays they make these young directors do movie for $2 million when the movie is written for $10 million. So you have to squeeze it all in there and I don’t want to do that anymore.”
This past January, he again hinted at something he’s working on, this time in an interview with Variety, but adds that it’s “shrouded in total mystery, like Skull Island.”
Carpenter is now telling the Cahiers du Cinema, in their April issue, that even though he “walked away from the business”, he’s continuing to work on “one or two things”:
“I have a little idea right now, I'm trying to find the second act. We'll see!”
The 75-year-old writer-director hasn’t made a film since 2010’s “The Ward.” That one was met with negative reaction but, ironically enough, ever since his sabbatical began, Carpenter’s filmography has resonated much more deeply with younger filmmakers. He’s become a celebrated auteur whose influence can be seen all over today’s wave of neo-horror American movies.
When you’ve directed films such as “Halloween,” “The Thing,” “Escape From New York,” “Assault on Precinct 13,” and “They Live” then you should probably expect laudatory praise. However, all of these films weren’t that well-received 30-40 years ago, it’s only recently that Carpenter’s filmography has received a much-needed reappraisal, so much so that a new film by him would now be deemed a major event for cinephiles.
Bassim Tariq was the first one in the chair. The "Mogul Mowgli" director spent two years building out the Mahershala Ali vehicle before exiting in 2022, and he's now letting the air out on this one.