It’s hard to find fresh ground for a horror movie. A terrifying murderer can only terrifyingly murder in so many ways, a fact that’s been lampooned to an inch of its life in the Scream franchise. So when you find a gimmick that works, you stick with it, no matter how challenging it gets.
There’s no better example than Happy Death Day, Christopher Landon’s time-loop thriller that followed Tree Gelbman (Jessica Rothe) as she relived the day of her murder over and over again, looking for a way to escape her own demise. Its sequel, Happy Death Day 2U, found a way to double down on the premise by delving further into sci-fi with quantum mechanics, but it’s taken six years to finally get word on a third instalment.
Star Jessica Rothe and director Christopher Landon.
According to BloodyDisgusting, Christopher Landon and Jessica Rothe confirmed the third movie is “moving forward,” a welcome update after years of being told it was “in development” but not yet greenlit.
Calling this threequel’s path tumultuous would be an understatement. While Happy Death Day 2U ended with a mid-credits sequel tease, its box office underperformance cast doubt on the franchise’s future. Landon even went so far as to tweet, “THERE IS NO HAPPY DEATH DAY 3 IN DEVELOPMENT,” in 2019. However, by September 2020, Empire confirmed a third movie was, in fact, in development, and Landon revealed the working title was Happy Death Day to Us, suggesting the time loop may become a group project.
A mid-credits scene set up a third movie by showing Happy Death Day 2U’s quantum reactor in the hands of the government.
Years of delays had fans doubting if the trilogy would ever be completed, especially as Landon moved on to other gimmick horror movies like Freaky, Time Cut, and Heart Eyes. This update is finally confirmation that things haven’t ground to a halt. We’ll just need to be a bit more patient before we finally learn what mess Tree has gotten herself into this time.
