Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers — 10 Things You Didn’t Know
By Jeremy Dick
1. John Carpenter helped write an original, unused screenplay
When the choice was made to bring back Michael Myers, John Carpenter was contacted about taking part. Initially, he agreed, and Carpenter helped to write a screenplay with author Dennis Etichson, who’d been penning the Halloween novels. Set ten years after Halloween, the movie would reveal that the Halloween holiday was banned in Haddonfield due to Michael’s killing spree. Of course, that doesn’t stop him from coming back home, racking up the kill count once again.
Unfortunately for Etchison and Carpenter, producer Moustapha Akkad was not impressed with the script. Calling it “too cerebral,” Akkad was interested in something more simplistic, in line with the original film. Etchison and Carpenter’s story was tossed out and replaced with a new screenplay by Alan B. McElroy. This also resulted in Carpenter leaving the project as well, making it the first film in the series to not have his involvement in any way. It would remain that way until 2018’s Halloween reboot from director David Gordon Green.
Next: Rob Zombie's Halloween: 10 things you didn't know
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