For those of you who’ve been waiting for news on Trick ‘r Treat 2, something has finally surfaced. Announced eleven years ago and having yet to surface, many have worried about the fate of the follow-up to Michael Dougherty’s cult classic anthology film, but it seems like there’s still some momentum behind the project, even if we have yet to hear anything.
The update comes from the newly released commentary track on Arrow Video’s 4K release of the original film, which is available now. Dougherty confirmed that the sequel has already been storyboarded, and was co-written with Todd Casey and Zach Shields, who he collaborated with on Krampus. The problem, though? Financing and producing a sequel to a cult hit in an industry that’s currently thriving on superhero films and reboots:
“It’s tricky, because I think we really did capture lightning in a bottle with this one, and it nearly killed me. What a lot of people don’t realize is that the bulk of our favorite horror movies, especially the ones that introduced new horror icons, were all independent movies…There aren’t the typical metrics that a studio can point to to make it an easy ‘yes.’ Something I was adamant about in the sequel was that it has to retain this nonlinear storytelling [and] that weird mix of horror and comedy.
I want to do it. It’s not dead by any stretch. We have some momentum moving in the right direction for sure, but I’m also of the belief that I’m not going to compromise or make sacrifices just to make a sequel. It has to be under the right conditions with the right resources. Otherwise, I will be content with just letting this be this weird little movie that fought its way through a lot of adversity.”
Trick ‘r Treat (not to be confused with the 1986 heavy metal movie Trick or Treat) was originally released in 2009, after two years of screening at film festivals and difficulty getting the film to a larger audience. It has since garnered a cult following, and many have anxiously awaited the news of a follow-up, though it seems we might have to wait quite a while before anything manages to materialize.
In the meantime, though, fans can order the 4K Ultra HD edition of the original film from Arrow Video, which comes with new cast and crew interviews, the commentary with Dougherty, making of featurettes, deleted and alternate scenes, and more.
