Back in 2003 many horror fans’ nightmares were answered when Freddy vs. Jason brought the iconic Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th killers together in a crossover that had been on the cards for many years. Of course that isn’t enough to satisfy genre aficionados, and immediately they wanted to see Freddy and Jason take on other horror legends. While Evil Dead‘s Ash was brought into the mix in the comic book series Freddy vs Jason vs Ash, one that has eluded any kind of crossover is Halloween‘s Michael Myers. According to the Senior Vice President of Trancas International Films, who own the franchise rights to Halloween, it looks like this is one fan wish that is not likely to be granted in any future movie.
While speaking in an interview with CBR, Ryan Freimann, who also produced both the 2018 Halloween and sequel Halloween Kills, was quick to dismiss the chances of a crossover event between the biggest icons of the genre because in his opinion they are all appeal to different audiences.
“We always run into that because you always want to have Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees and then Leatherface has kind of crept into there on the Mount Rushmore of those guys. I still like to think that Michael being the first is the best and I think each has their own (appeal). Freddy definitely has his silliness and is interesting. I’ve never truly been a Jason fan but I find merit in all of them. We partner with Universal in their horror parks on the Titans of Terror where all four of them are represented but we try to really keep them on their own so I don’t think you’ll see a Michael vs. Jason or Michael vs. Freddy on the docket for the future.”
While Halloween’s current owners appear to have a definite solo future in mind for the franchise, it hasn’t always been that way. Back when Freddy vs Jason grossed over $100 million at the box office, Dimension Films, who had the rights to both the Halloween franchise and Clive Barker’s Hellraiser, were keen to enlist Barker and Halloween creator John Carpenter to bring Michael Myers and Pinhead into the same universe.
Speaking to Den of Geek in an interview last year, Hellraiser star Doug Bradley talked about the crossover that never was. “I remember getting quite excited at the prospect of it. Clive said that the versus bit, the Michael Myers vs Pinhead bit was a bit beside the point – it was a bit boring given that Michael doesn’t speak, which makes him a disappointment to Pinhead. Clive wasn’t interested in a mano-a-mano confrontation. He was interested in finding the places where the Hellraiser and Halloween landscapes might have crossed over. The first Halloween works like a classic vampire movie with Michael as Dracula and Dr. Loomis as Van Helsing.”
He concluded, “Dr. Loomis spends a lot of the film warning people they don’t know what they are dealing with. It gave Michael this supernatural, mysterious element that made him so powerful. There was a suggestion he was something not human and Clive felt there was a way in there. Clive saw him as a sadomasochistic sexual pervert and serial killer which would be enough to pique Pinhead’s interest.”
So it may be the case that we will not see Michael Myers turning up in any other horror franchise than his own anytime soon, but that doesn’t mean that the idea is going to stay buried forever. For the moment though, all attention is on the arrival of Halloween Kills, which will arrive in theaters and streams on Peacock from October 15th. This news originated at ComicBookResources with additional reporting from Den of Geek.