Happy Death Day Director Teases “Unexpected” Nature of Third Film That Doesn’t Need to Be Rushed

In the years since Happy Death Day 2U landed in theaters, fans have been hoping to get a third entry to tie up the narrative, but director Christopher Landon recently revealed that his plan for a final film is one that doesn’t take place on the same day as the first two films, so even if it doesn’t come together in the immediate future, there’s still hope for it to be brought to life. What also bodes well for the project is that he confirmed the studio has had promising reactions to his plan, but that the ambitious nature of the series would require this third film to have an even larger budget than the previous films.

“I have a whole movie! It’s not even an idea. I pitched the entire movie to [Universal] and they loved it,” Landon confirmed to IndieWire. “That was the funny part. They were like, ‘Oh, my God, that’s so unexpected and so cool.’ It’s not dependent, it’s not set in the same day as the previous films, so it could be made now, or in two years or three years. It would still work. But the trickier thing, too, and in fairness to them, it’s a bigger idea than the previous two films, so it would be a more expensive movie.”

Virtually ever since Landon released the last film, he has addressed his interest in completing his trilogy, with every few months seeing him either offering promising news or disappointing updates. By merely teasing that the upcoming film wouldn’t take place on the same day as the first two films, this is an instance where we are actually getting a tease of the story, which will likely ignite even more excitement among fans.

These comments also reflect how passionate Landon personally is about the franchise, as he recently expressed that, if he were given a blank check, he would use that money to bring the third film to life.

When asked by The Hollywood Reporter what he would do if money was no object, Landon revealed, “It would definitely be Happy Death Day 3. I have that movie in my head, and I know exactly what I want. It’s actually a bigger movie than the previous two films, and that’s part of the issue, ultimately. This third movie needs a bigger budget, but since the second movie didn’t perform as well as the first, it’s a tall order. But I’m still holding out hope that Universal will give me a chance because it would be a really fun conclusion.”

Stay tuned for details on possible updates for the Happy Death Day franchise.

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