Halloween Horror Nights 30 (UOR) - Speculation & Rumors (2021)

[Living Dead Dude]

There seems to be a whole lot of Halloween 3 smoke in the community for there not to be a fire.

 

[johnathanm]

I feel like arguing over the amount of merch there is of Halloween 3 is getting lost in the weeds; I don’t think anyone’s arguing its not popular enough to justify its own house. We’ve seen more niche horror properties come to the event in recent years like Killer Klowns or Trick ‘r Treat, and they tend to follow the same pattern. They start as passion project scare zones from A&D, and presumably feedback from guests and merch sales justify to marketing to allow them to build a complete house the next year. If it was just Season of the Witch, I think it would be totally reasonable for it to come to the event the same exact way.

But it isn’t just Season of the Witch, it has the Halloween franchise name on it. Those other properties didn’t come with baggage, all they had to do was put on a quality show for people unfamiliar with the source material. For Season of the Witch though, the shadow of Michael Meyers looms large, it could be an awesome house but if he doesn’t show up in a Halloween maze a lot of the general public are going to be asking where he is.

Even if they drop Halloween and just call the maze Season of the Witch to sidestep this, they run into a different marketing problem. This is already a replacement for what was supposed to be the headliner for the event pre-COVID, and it’s not nearly as popular as Eilish. Also, Universal has a Halloween reboot sequel coming out in October yet embarrassingly can’t use is as a house. But Season of the Witch gives marketing a chance to stick Meyers on billboards for HHN and provide at least some kind of tie-in for Halloween Kills.

Again, I don’t think anyone’s arguing that Season of the Witch isn’t popular enough on its own to be at the event. But because of the Halloween name, trying to ignore Meyers will either create significant brand confusion for less-informed guests or it sacrifices synergy & marketing potential for an event already down a blockbuster IP and hamstrung by rights issues on the sequel.

TL;DR: Shoehorning Michael Meyers into Season of the Witch is less an artistic argument than it is a business decision.

I think I just lost the plot somewhere along the line, so forgive me, but do we know why Halloween 2018 and it’s sequels are off the table? I seem to recall reading on 29’s forum that Murdy and Jason Blum may have had creative disagreements, but don’t know if that is related.

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

I think I just lost the plot somewhere along the line, so forgive me, but do we know why Halloween 2018 and it’s sequels are off the table? I seem to recall reading on 29’s forum that Murdy and Jason Blum may have had creative disagreements, but don’t know if that is related.

Miramax used to be owned by Disney and I guess they're still acting like it. :shrug:

Since there's a poster for it in the HMUS lobby, does Universal own the rights to H2?

 

[Clive]

I think I just lost the plot somewhere along the line, so forgive me, but do we know why Halloween 2018 and it’s sequels are off the table? I seem to recall reading on 29’s forum that Murdy and Jason Blum may have had creative disagreements, but don’t know if that is related.

There have certainly been disagreements between Murdy and and many creatives, but in this case, Miramax is the issue.

 

[Tobias]

Miramax used to be owned by Disney and I guess they're still acting like it. :shrug:

Since there's a poster for it in the HMUS lobby, does Universal own the rights to H2?

They have at least the distribution rights to Halloween II, though in some ways that's not saying much since they have the distribution rights to the current Halloween trilogy...which they can't use as a house due to Miramax. Don't think Miramax has a hand in H2, which is a factor why Uni was able to do a house of it. (The same can be said for H4 and Season of the Witch.)

 

[RevFreako]

Miramax used to be owned by Disney and I guess they're still acting like it. :shrug:

Since there's a poster for it in the HMUS lobby, does Universal own the rights to H2?

Universal distributed H2 and H3. Whether they own it now I do not know

 

[Clive]

Universal distributed H2 and H3. Whether they own it now I do not know

Here's what I do know, and why I said the rights to HII are murky: Halloween II was supposed to appear as part of Silver Screams in 2009. The hospital set was meant to represent the setting in the film with a few Michael Myers scares. They obviously got as far as building the sets before learning they couldn't use the characters and pivoted to My Bloody Valentine, which was shoehorned into the hospital setting.

 

[DannyPowers]

Here's what I do know, and why I said the rights to HII are murky: Halloween II was supposed to appear as part of Silver Screams in 2009. The hospital set was meant to represent the setting in the film with a few Michael Myers scares. They obviously got as far as building the sets before learning they couldn't use the characters and pivoted to My Bloody Valentine, which was shoehorned into the hospital setting.

But they did H2 in it’s entirety in “Hell Comes to Haddenfield” at 26.

 

[hhnlover]

Here's what I do know, and why I said the rights to HII are murky: Halloween II was supposed to appear as part of Silver Screams in 2009. The hospital set was meant to represent the setting in the film with a few Michael Myers scares. They obviously got as far as building the sets before learning they couldn't use the characters and pivoted to My Bloody Valentine, which was shoehorned into the hospital setting.

Actually, if I'm correct, MBV was used since Lionsgate wanted them to promote it if they wished to use Saw

 

[johnathanm]

Here's what I do know, and why I said the rights to HII are murky: Halloween II was supposed to appear as part of Silver Screams in 2009. The hospital set was meant to represent the setting in the film with a few Michael Myers scares. They obviously got as far as building the sets before learning they couldn't use the characters and pivoted to My Bloody Valentine, which was shoehorned into the hospital setting.

I’ve always wondered: for Silver Screams and All Nite Die-In, did they license each property used separately? Did they have agreements with studios to use multiple of their IP’s? Was it an “ask for forgiveness rather than for permission” situation typically because IP use at the event was somewhat less contentious at the time?

 

[Legacy]

I’ve always wondered: for Silver Screams and All Nite Die-In, did they license each property used separately? Did they have agreements with studios to use multiple of their IP’s? Was it an “ask for forgiveness rather than for permission” situation typically because IP use at the event was somewhat less contentious at the time?

In Silver Screams, they were all individually licensed. That’s why the “Army of Darkness” was called “MediEvil Dead.”

The All Nite Die-Ins were “not the movies.” The boiler room featured Nightmare Man. The camp ground featured Hockey Mask Killer.

 

[UPSguy]

Since Universal is pretty much back to normal now in regards to restrictions, do we think the houses will have stuff in your face again?

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

Since Universal is pretty much back to normal now in regards to restrictions, do we think the houses will have stuff in your face again?

Aren't the people getting in your face mostly wearing masks of some sort anyways?

 

[Allison]

Since Universal is pretty much back to normal now in regards to restrictions, do we think the houses will have stuff in your face again?

I really, really, really hope not.

 

[Tbad556]

Since Universal is pretty much back to normal now in regards to restrictions, do we think the houses will have stuff in your face again?

I still genuinely believe COVID will have zero effect on the event this year.

It's still three months away and the in-park restrictions are basically non-existent including distancing. Orange County is still on pace to reach the no longer relevant Phase 3 mark by July or so, concerts are returning for the same time frame, sports are back to full capacity, etc.

Not to mention, vaccination rates will be much higher after another three months and cases should be incredibly low. We've already got over 50% of adult Americans and 40% of ALL Americans fully vaccinated. Plus, the COVID death rate is back to March 2020 numbers.

 

[UPSguy]

Aren't the people getting in your face mostly wearing masks of some sort anyways?

I meant like curtains, and other things guest normally have to push through.

 

[Clive]

But they did H2 in it’s entirety in “Hell Comes to Haddenfield” at 26.

Right, but that was fully licensed in advance. My understanding was A&D at the time assumed they could use Halloween II since it was a Universal film before learning they... couldn't. (Remember, there was supposed to be a whole Army of Darkness scare zone where Hacktion ended up. Same situation.)

Actually, if I'm correct, MBV was used since Lionsgate wanted them to promote it if they wished to use Saw

I'm sure that was the reason for that specific pivot, but you don't build a hospital set if you're trying to do My Bloody Valentine from the onset.

 

[Living Dead Dude]

Since Universal is pretty much back to normal now in regards to restrictions, do we think the houses will have stuff in your face again?

I mean last year they had hand sanitizer before you went in the house and after so if they continue that I don't see a reason for there not to be any SIF

 

[shiekra38]

I meant like curtains, and other things guest normally have to push through.

I hope they return I missed not having them in Frankenstein and Tooth Fairy last year

Obviously they probably won't go crazy with it

 

[ultimateforce]

I'm hoping for an all laundry house. Think of the smells! And walking through hanging sheets and pants!

Advertise it as taking place on Sunday night and work is tomorrow. Sunday scaries!