John Carpenter Teases Everything From A PRINCE OF DARKNESS TV Series To A THEY LIVE Redux

John Carpenter is the fucking man.

I'd honestly believe that even if I weren't a massive fan of his movies and music. Every time he gives an interview, there's a craggy realness to the way he approaches any and all questions that really helps to dispell any sort of mythology regarding the legendary genre director. Wanna know how the script for 1981's Halloween II came about? He looked in the fridge and noticed he was out of beer. What's he think about his own pictures' newfound legacy. He doesn't know - nobody saw them in the first place, now they can't stop talking about them, long after he can still get paid. 

Well, now that there's a new Halloween coming - that Carpenter not only EP'd, but also wrote the music for with his son Cody and bandmate Daniel Davies (both of whom worked with Carpenter on his Lost Themes records) - those of us who just love to read the maverick filmmaker's blunt musings are basically being treated to Christmas (including a chat with Russ Fischer  in our very own issue on David Gordon Green's sequel). Over at Den of Geek, the anamorphic Howard Hawks disciple had a few things to say about Blumhouse's franchise revival, and what we could expect in the wake of its predicted box office success. 

On the topic of Halloween, Carpenter's straight up stated he's done attempting to preserve any sort of preciousness he ever had over the films (which, admittedly, he never really had in the first place):

"I've kind of given that up, man, years ago, protecting my baby. That's all gone. So, no, I didn't try to protect anything. I just tried to help. By that I mean, tried to make the movie as good as it can be, for what it is." 

"For what it is" is such a telling response when he discusses the franchise. These aren't his movies anymore, so Carpenter just plays his part for the production, and lets the chips fall where they may. That philosophy seems to carry over when approaching any further sequels to his work, as he has no idea what's happening next:

"I don't know. Let's see the next proposal. I can't do a blanket kind of, 'Oh, okay. Yes, I'll do that.' I don't know, but I'm up for almost anything that involves money. That's a nice thing. It's always nice."

Yet no amount of playful cantankerousness prevented Carpenter from dropping a few well-timed hints when prompted, marking him as a high class troll. First up, Shudder's rumored Prince of Darkness TV series that was floated not too long ago:

 "You heard it from me. It's not a lie, but it's not ready to go yet, so rather than discuss it, I think I won't."

Oh okay, John. And how about a redux/requel to They Live, which was in development (yet slipped into the dreaded proverbial Development Hell)?:

"There was a feature film. It was a feature film called Resistance, written by, oh, the guy who did the Apes movies. Matt Reeves. But then he moved on, and so the sequel is, well, we'll see. We'll just have to see."

For real: if Matt Reeves made ANYTHING related to They Live, it would be my #1 anticipated movie of whatever year it came out. Cast John Cena in the Roddy Piper role and then we're really cooking with gas. 

You should head over and read the whole interview, as Carpenter drops a bunch of other gold, including comparing Michael Myers to Godzilla at one point. But perhaps the most baller ass quote came when the former director described his viewing habits:

"I don't get out a lot, but I watch a lot of movies. I don't leave my house. They come to me." 

When I grow up, I wanna be John Carpenter.