Chalk this one up to being a hefty rumor, so take the appropriate grain of salt and all that, but it seems that the next killing rampage from Michael Myers might not be coming to a movie theater near you, but to your television instead. After news that Dimension films let go of the rights to the Halloween franchise after nearly twenty years last fall, taking the proposed Halloween Returns reboot with it, things have been silent in Haddonfield. But as Halloween fans know, things are never quiet in Haddonfield for too long.

It seems the folks at Fangoria have been told —  from a filmmaker who wished to remain anonymous —  that the newly available franchise may have skipped the recent European Film Market because their plan is to pursue a television option for the series instead. According to their source, the producers of the franchise have recently begun discussions with potential network representatives already. Fangoria’s source has said the television reboot would be a “limited series event”, with the option being restricted to a 3-to-5 season commitment, similar to Guillermo del Toro’s TV version of The Strain.

If the Halloween franchise indeed comes to television, it would follow a string of classic horror properties that have found new life in a serialized, long-form TV format. Bates Motel has found great success on A&E, much more so than the remake of Psycho ever did. In a similar fashion, Scream the MTV series has fared better than Scream 4, and soon Damien, an extension of the Omen series will join them.

Also in development is a Friday the 13th series. It will be interesting to see if Halloween can beat it to television screens, since Friday the 13th is widely viewed as a Halloween knock-off. (Of course, the winner of all of these so far is Ash vs The Evil Dead. Just sayin’).

If a Halloween series is limited to eight to ten episodes a season, and actually airs around September/October, it could really be an “event” in the way yet another movie reboot couldn’t be at this point. Plus there’s enough story potential there for several seasons, depending on the right showrunner. As long as they don’t mess too much with that classic William Shatner mask, I think there’s potential here. Now…how about a Freddy Krueger series too??

What do you think of a potential TV version of Michael Myers? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

HT: Fangoria

Image: Trancas International Films