Already have an account?
Get back to the

Danny McBride Reacts to ‘Halloween Ends’ Critics Wanting More Michael Myers: ‘It Was a Way to Avoid Repetition’ (Exclusive)

Danny McBride Reacts to 'Halloween Ends' Critics Wanting More Michael Myers
Jamie Lee Curtis and Danny McBride at Universal Pictures’ ‘Halloween’ Premiere Eric Charbonneau/Shutterstock

Danny McBride “for sure” felt pressure to deliver on the latest Halloween trilogy and was ultimately proud of what he, Scott Teems and director David Gordon Green created.

Celebs’ Horror Movie Pasts 

“I’m a massive Halloween fan as well so you just want to give something that would make the fans excited and not make the fans angry with you. It was fun to try to pull that off for better or worse, and to get to meet John Carpenter and Jamie Lee Curtis. It was kind of surreal to be participating in furthering that story. It was awesome,” the actor, 46, exclusively told Us Weekly. “I’ve always tried to just pick things that keep me excited creatively or put me to work with people that I admire or have wanted to work with. And ultimately, is the project something that I would want to see myself [in].”

McBride signed on as an executive producer and writer for Halloween (2018), Halloween Kills (2021) and Halloween Ends (2022). In the final installment, Corey Cunningham (Rohan Campbell) becomes the main villain over Michael Myers, which didn’t sit well with some audiences.

OG ‘Halloween’ Stars: Where Are They Now?

“I think that is a valid criticism,” McBride told Us. “All three of these movies was really David Green’s sort of brainchild. He had a very distinct idea of what he wanted to do with this. And I just felt lucky that he brought me along for the ride to help him where I could and to try to give him anything I could on it. And when he told me his pitch for focusing on this Corey character, I thought that it was cool. I thought it was a smart take on it. I thought that it was a way to avoid repetition and sort of explore something a little different and still tying it into what Halloween’s ultimately about.”

Danny McBride Reacts to 'Halloween Ends' Critics Wanting More Michael Myers
Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and Michael Myers (aka The Shape) in ‘Halloween Ends’ Ryan Green/Universal Pictures

After years of torture, Laurie (Curtis) came out victorious when she killed the Boogeyman in their final showdown. But according to McBride, “there are a lot” of final scenes that didn’t make the cut.

“There’s always alternate endings. We will shoot stuff and then shoot something different. Things definitely tend to change a little bit,” he explained. “But I think overall this was, this one landed where it was anticipated.”

Halloween Ends also starred Andi Matichak, Will Patton, James Jude Courtney, Kyle Richards and Jesse C. Boyd, with Judy Greer playing Laurie’s daughter Karen in the first two films. The cult franchise so far consists of 13 films since Michael Myers’ debut in 1978’s Halloween — and McBride wouldn’t be surprised if more stories come out of Haddonfield, Illinois, in the future.

Jamie Lee Curtis Through the Years 

“I feel like we had a blast creating this and making this and it kind of feels like we have put our thumbprint on it. And I think, I mean, never say never, but I would be interested to see what else is out there, what else somebody can do with this,” he said.

McBride previously wrote his TV series Eastbound & Down, which aired for four seasons from 2009 to 2013, as well as Your Highness, The Foot Fist Way and Vice Principals. He is also known for his acting work in Pineapple Express, This Is the End, Due Date, Up in the Air and doing various voiceovers in Despicable Me, Kung Fu Panda 2, Sausage Patty and The Angry Birds Movie.

Danny McBride Reacts to 'Halloween Ends' Critics Wanting More Michael Myers
Allyson (Andi Matichak) and Corey (Rohan Campbell) in ‘Halloween Ends’ Ryan Green/Universal Pictures

“I kind of like ’em all. They all sort of scratch a different creative itch,” he said of his work. “I really love coming up with something from scratch that you’re able to oversee all the way to the screen from writing it to overseeing how it’s put together and aired and marketed. It’s hard. It’s one of the hardest gigs out of all those, I think. But I really dig it. I enjoy it. But it’s also pretty fun to be able to show up for somebody like Ridley Scott on Alien and just show up as an actor and get to see how some of these directors work too. They all have incredible benefits.”

As for writing, the only advice he has is to “just do it.”

“That’s the hardest thing is just sitting down and making yourself write and making yourself do it,” he told Us. “When COVID happened and all the writers’ rooms shut down and you were kind of forced to write outta your house, that sort of created new regiments. You had to sort of navigate kids being home and what you’re saying on Zooms with writers about a dirty show while your children are playing downstairs. And so, it’s just finding the time to do it and finding the distraction free zones to pull it off.”

In this article

Got a Tip form close button
Got a tip for US?
We're All Ears for Celebrity Buzz!