So you’re saying there’s a chance?
The Forever Purge opened last week, delivering another uncomfortably dark reflection of our toxic politics. Franchise creator James DeMonaco has long had designs on this being the finale, the “final” Purge, so to speak, and in my review I said this was a good way for it to come to an end with a final, if somewhat ominous, message of unity. Well, it might not be over, after all.
Speaking with Slashfilm, DeMonaco says he has an idea for another Purge film that may have been inspired by Blumhouse’s Jason Blum. Even better, DeMonaco wants Frank Grillo to return and be part of it…
“As for Jason [Blum], Jason probably did get into my head, because about three months ago, I did come up with what I think could be part six. We will see. We’ll see,” DeMonaco said.
He continued, “Dude, my ‘Purge 6’ idea is all about Frank [Grillo]. It’s all about the Leo character. Without giving anything away, I think he’s off on his own, but he’s going to be called back into action, hopefully on ‘Purge 6,’ if we’re lucky enough to do it. I hope that Leo comes back. That’s the goal. When I came up with ‘Purge 6,’ he was the center of the idea. I’m hoping that we get to do that with him.”
Grillo starred in both The Purge: Anarchy and The Purge: Election Year, but has not been a part of the last two films. It always seemed to me that he would carry on as the central focus, so to bring him back is a pretty good idea.
This next part I find interesting because it seemed to me back when I spoke to DeMonaco years ago that he always knew there was potential for franchise growth…
“We never saw the potential for anything larger than a cult thriller or something like that,” he explained. “Jason’s the one who saw the conceit, and Universal saw that the conceit can be somewhat, well, it could be universal, could be commercial. We just saw it so dark and so dystopian and nihilistic that we didn’t see the potential.”
I don’t care, I just love these movies and am happy they’ve continued exactly as they have. This hardly makes for an official confirmation of The Purge 6, but as I said in the beginning, you’re telling me there’s a chance.
