Trick ‘r Treat Director Promises Sequel Is “Not Dead by Any Stretch” Despite Years-Long Delay

In the years since a Trick ‘r Treat sequel was initially announced, director Michael Dougherty has been busy with other projects like Krampus and Godzilla: King of the Monsters, but despite the delays, the filmmaker claims that fans shouldn’t give up hope entirely. On the film’s recent 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release, per Bloody Disgusting, Dougherty shares in a commentary track that the main reason for the delay is he doesn’t want to have to make any sacrifices or compromises that would impact his vision for the experience, and that he’s quite happy with the current version of the script. As far as whether there has been any significant momentum on the sequel since he recorded the commentary track is yet to be seen.

“I want to do it. It’s not dead by any stretch. We have some momentum moving in the right direction for sure, but I’m also of the belief that I’m not going to compromise or make sacrifices just to make a sequel,” Dougherty shared on the commentary track, according to the outlet. “It has to be under the right conditions with the right resources. Otherwise, I will be content with just letting this be this weird little movie that fought its way through a lot of adversity.”

He added, “But I’m very, very happy with the script for the sequel.”

[RELATED: New Trick ‘r Treat Stories Finally Announced With Original Creator]

The original movie was released in 2009 and served as a tribute to All Hallow’s Eve, as it blended humor with horror to deliver an anthology experience celebrating all manner of traditions honoring October 31st. At the time, streaming platforms hadn’t established themselves as avenues to watch movies, so Trick ‘r Treat was relegated to only earning a home video debut as opposed to either a major theatrical rollout or streaming debut. The movie’s sporadic streaming availability in the years since, however, has seen it earn a passionate following, leading to enthusiasm for another entry.

“It’s tricky, because I think we really did capture lightning in a bottle with this one, and it nearly killed me. What a lot of people don’t realize is that the bulk of our favorite horror movies, especially the ones that introduced new horror icons, were all independent movies,” Dougherty detailed on the disc, while citing other indie hits like Halloween and Friday the 13th. “There aren’t the typical metrics that a studio can point to to make it an easy ‘yes.’ Something I was adamant about in the sequel was that it has to retain this nonlinear storytelling, [and] it has to retain that weird mix of horror and comedy.”

One of the last updates about the sequel, which was initially announced in 2013, came from Dougherty last year, in which he similarly promised that he only wanted to move forward on a sequel if it could surpass the effectiveness of the original experience.

Stay tuned for updates on the possible future of Trick ‘r Treat 2.

Are you hoping we get a sequel to the movie? Contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!