Halloween Ends May Be Jamie Lee Curtis' Last Time Playing Laurie Strode
Jamie Lee Curtis has played Laurie Strode for over 40 years in the Halloween franchise; however, she thinks the new film, Halloween Ends, will be her last time playing the character. Though the next movie in the series, Halloween Kills, has yet to hit theaters (releasing on September 8, 2021), the thirteenth installment is scheduled to drop in October 2022. Both films are direct sequels to 2018's Halloween revamp, which lit a new fire to the entire franchise and saw Curtis reprise her iconic role.
Curtis first played Strode in John Carpenter's 1978 original film, Halloween. Just 19-years-old at the time, Curtis took on the role of a 17-year-old high school student who becomes targeted by a serial killer named Michael Myers. Curtis then reprised her role as Strode in 1981's Halloween II, which picks up directly after the first film's events. Since then, Curtis has played her iconic character in seven total movies (including the subsequent two movies scheduled to release). Though Curtis had some apprehensions of returning for 2018's Halloween, she's now poised to play the character for at least two more films.
In an interview with Total Film, Curtis reveals that 2022's Halloween Ends will most likely be her last time playing her iconic character, Laurie Strode.
"I would say, given what I know about the next movie, I think it will be the last time that I will play her."
Going further, Curtis is quick to sidestep questions about the fate of her character, explaining, "And I'm not saying something like, 'Oh because I die!' It's nothing to do with that." She goes on to say that she's happy about the thirteenth installment's ending, saying, "I think it will be a spectacular way to end this trilogy."
By all accounts, Halloween Ends will be more contained than the previous films. Director David Gordon Green has event hinted that the final movie would depart from what came before. Since the next two films are planned to pick up right after the events of 2018's Halloween, there doesn't leave much time to develop the central characters further; however, much of that development came in 2018's movie, which explored Strode's strained relationship with her extended family. Besides, over the 40 years that Curtis has played Strode, her character has seen a massive transformation from her high school days.
With a title like Halloween Ends in a long-running series of films, it implies the franchise may be nearing an end. Though producers have said the future of Halloween remains uncertain, Curtis has also backed up those claims by saying she doesn't think her character will return. It seems that the end is truly in store for Laurie Strode, and by Curtis' own accounts, she may have a fitting ending. However, everybody knows Michael Meyers always ends up returning from the dead, and the same may happen for Strode in the future.
Source: Total Film