Plans to make Happy Death Day a trilogy have been in the works for years. At a recent double feature event screening the first movie and its sequel, director Christopher Landon and star Jessica Rothe revealed that Happy Death Day 3 is "moving forward" during a recent double-feature screening at the American Cinematheque. Watch the clip here.
The 2017 movie Happy Death Day is a black comedy slasher about a college student named Tree Gelbman (Rothe) who has the worst birthday ever. After being brutally murdered, Tree gets trapped in a time loop, forced to repeat the day over and over again until she can find the culprit and prevent her death from happening. The 2019 sequel took a turn into science fiction territory, placing Tree in yet another time loop, this time in a parallel universe.
A third Happy Death Day has been discussed multiple times since 2020. Most recently, Landon told SFX Magazine that at one point, it looked like Universal wanted to turn it into a "three-part event thing" for their streaming service Peacock.
Landon admitted the idea was "kind of weird" but would have gone along with it.
"I was like, 'Alriiiiiight! Whatever it takes.' But then it went away and that was the last we ever heard of it - which was years ago."
The first two films did well financially and critically. Happy Death Day 2U earned marginally less than the first film at $64 million versus the 2017 movie's $125 million haul, but considering the sequel had a reported budget of $9 million, it seemingly would still have turned a decent profit for Blumhouse and Universal.
In 2020, Rothe told ComingSoon she would love to "complete the trilogy," mentioning that Landon already had an idea for a third and final film.
At the time, the star said, "It's just a question of seeing if the opportunity for that exists in the world."
The time might finally be right. Neither Landon nor Rothe could give away many details at the recent Cinematheque event, but the fact they can publicly confirm a third movie is moving forward sounds like a good sign.
Previously, the third film was titled Happy Death to Us, an apt title. I hope it sticks. Stay tuned to 1428 Elm! We'll keep you posted if more information about the film and other horror news arrives.