Following the first trailer release for the new “Halloween” late last week, the film’s co-writer Danny McBride has spoken some more about it and the decision by the writers to effectively wipe the slate clean and ignore every film after the original 1978 one.

Speaking with Coming Soon, McBride explained the choice to do the film in the first place, comparing it to something like Batman in that it’s a property which allows for multiple artist interpretations:

“You see these different artists take on these iconic characters so I think it’s kind of cool to see what different filmmakers will do with a property that is so well known. I would rather have that approach to Michael Myers than everyone just continuing some storyline and just trying to regurgitate these things. I think it’s more interesting to have someone like [director] David [Gordon Green] or Rob Zombie, these filmmakers that just come and put their own stamp on it for better or worse. I think that’s a more interesting way for a franchise to stay alive than to just continue to beat the same drum over and over again.”

He also spoke about the decision to ignore the previous sequels, including the second one, which makes Laurie Strode no longer related to Michael Myers:

“I was pushing for that removal right off the bat. I just felt like that was an area where he wasn’t quite as scary any more, it seemed too personalised. I wasn’t as afraid of Michael Myers any more because I’m not his fucking brother so he’s not coming after me. Also you’ve seen it, so wouldn’t it be interesting just to see what would happen if it wasn’t that, and what does that open up for us if it wasn’t this random killing that has affected this character, so it just seemed like new territory to bite off. Anyone who’s a fan of any of these films will find nice little Easter eggs acknowledging our salute to the filmmakers that have preceded us in the stories and mythologies as they have unfolded. For us, it was a clean slate type of opportunity, where if there was a little inspiration or mirror image of something it’s very subtle in the movie because we want to start fresh for a new generation but with great appreciation for the previous”

In a separate story, Variety reveals that actor Jake Gyllenhaal is partly responsible for the film happening. The actor is a family friend of Jamie Lee Curtis, and he convinced her to speak with the reboot’s director David Gordon Green. Once she did, they reportedly hit it off immediately and the film went forward.

Returning to McBride, he’s revealed to EW that at one time they were considering two films, but changed it to just one:

“We were going to shoot two of them back-to-back…Then we were like, Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. This could come out, and everyone could hate us, and we’d never work again. So, let’s not have to sit around for a year while we wait for another movie to come out that we know people aren’t going to like. So, we were like, Let’s learn from this, and see what works, and what doesn’t. But we definitely have an idea of where we would go [with] this branch of the story and hopefully we get a chance to do it.”

The new “Halloween” opens in cinemas on October 19th.