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John Carpenter Boards New ‘Halloween’ Movie

John Carpenter, creator of the original “Halloween” films, will return to the franchise as executive producer on a new production of the iconic horror movie.

Miramax and Blumhouse Productions will co-finance development and production. Producers are Malek Akkad under his Trancas banner and Jason Blum producing for Blumhouse.

Miramax holds worldwide distribution rights and will determine its theatrical distribution partner at a future date.

The “Halloween” film franchise was started in part by Carpenter and Moustapha Akkad in 1978, and has led to 10 films that have grossed nearly $400 million worldwide.

John Carpenter said, “38 years after the original ‘Halloween,’ I’m going to help to try to make the 10th sequel the scariest of them all.”

The news was unveiled on a new Halloween Movies web site.

“‘Halloween’ is one of those milestone films that inspired everyone at our company to get into the world of scary movies,” Blum said. “The great Malek Akkad and John Carpenter have a special place in the hearts of all genre fans and we are so excited that Miramax brought us together. We cannot wait to find and collaborate with the right filmmaker to give ‘Halloween’ fans the movie they deserve.”

David Thwaites will oversee the reboot for Miramax with Carpenter.

The original “Halloween” was directed by Carpenter from his own script about Michael Myers as he stalks and kills teenage babysitters on Halloween night. The film begins with six-year-old Michael killing his teenage sister on Halloween in 1963; he escapes 15 years later from a sanitarium and stalks Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her friends as they babysit.

Malek Akkad is the son of Moustapha Akkad, who exec produced the original “Halloween” and produced several of the sequels. Malek Akkad produced three sequels, including 1998’s “Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later,” 2007’s “Halloween” and 2009’s “Halloween II.”

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