Just about every John Carpenter movie is rumored to be in some stage of development on a sequel or reboot, but one that we hadn’t heard anything about is his quirky cult classic B movie They Live. The politically-charged satire of Reaganomics was a perfect fit for its 1988 release date, but we think the recent political climate would also make for a very interesting sequel. And Carpenter apparently agrees.
In an interview with Den of Geek, the legendary filmmaker was asked about refreshing his classic for a new generation, and it sounds like he’s already got something in the works. “Well, I’m not gonna tell you about that, because it might be closer to reality than you think,” Carpenter said. Then, when pressed about a rumored remake being in the works, the director added, “There was a feature film. It was a feature film called Resistance, written by, oh, the guy who did the Apes movies. Matt Reeves. But then he moved on, and so the sequel is, well, we’ll see. We’ll just have to see.”
Carpenter is keeping this one close to the chest, but it certainly seems like he knows something. Usually when he’s asked about remakes or sequels of his films, he’ll either say he knows nothing about them or low key trash them (see: Big Trouble in Little China), but with They Live, he’s being very coy while also being diplomatic. Could it be that Carpenter will soon return to the director’s chair, and that he’ll do so to make a sequel of They Live that takes place in the Trump era? Oh, the possibilities!
