Universal Pictures and Blumhouse Productions struck gold (which someone then robbed from them) with The Purge. The four films in the impressively inclusive series — The Purge, The Purge: Anarchy, The Purge: Election Year, and The First Purge — have a combined budget of $36 million; they’ve grossed over $450 million at the box office, and spawned a television series. It’s possible that James DeMonaco, who wrote every installment (and directed all except The First Purge), could continue the franchise until it reaches a Hellraiser-level of sequels, but it sounds like he’s done after the next film.
“I have it in my head,” DeMonaco told Entertainment Weekly about the next Purge (The Purge… in Space?). “I think I’m going to write it. I think it’s a great way to end it all. We want to end it all, I think, in this one, and I’m very excited. When I came up with the idea and pitched it to everybody, they seemed psyched, and I think it will be a really cool ending, how we take this one home.”
Even without one of its signature series, Blumhouse will be fine. The production company still has Happy Death Day 2U; Jordan Peele’s follow-up to Get Out, entitled Us; Five Nights at Freddy’s; and (probably) multiple Halloween sequels. Meanwhile, The Purge movies will be replaced by The Purge in real life.
(Via Entertainment Weekly)
