The Purge producer says he's hoping for "a couple more" sequels after fifth film

During an interview for Welcome to the Blumhouse, the new horror anthology series from Blumhouse Productions, Blum was asked if The Forever Purge - the release date of which was pushed back 12 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic - would definitely bring the curtain down on James DeMonaco’s series.

Blum, though, suggested that the franchise’s end might not be as clear cut as others had suggested.

“I would never say its end is set in stone,” Blum told RadioTimes.com. “Hopefully, I’ll talk James into making a couple more.”

The Purge movie, despite receiving mixed to negative reviews from film critics, has been another success story for Blum and his production company. The series has raked in over $446 million worldwide on a budget of less than $35m - a box office haul that goes some way to explaining why Blum is positive about further entries in the franchise.

Any additional movies, though, will rest on DeMonaco’s desire to return to the series that he created.

The screenwriter has penned the script for the five Purge films to date, as well as directing 2013’s The Purge, 2014’s The Purge: Anarchy, and 2016’s The Purge: Election Year. DeMonaco also wrote and executively produced The Purge TV spin-off for Amazon Prime and USA Network, which ran for two seasons before its cancellation in May, and is currently working on This Is The Night, a Blumhouse and Universal co-production slated for a 2021 release.

Speaking in an interview with Entertainment Weekly ahead of The First Purge’s release in 2018, DeMonaco revealed that he expected The Forever Purge to be the last entry in the series.

“I think I’m going to write it,” DeMonaco said at the time. “I think it’s a great way to end it all. We want to end it all, I think, in this one, and I’m very excited. When I came up with the idea and pitched it to everybody, they seemed psyched, and I think it will be a really cool ending, how we take this one home.”

When pressed for more on the franchise’s future, Blum confirmed that DeMonaco was reluctant to return to the series for the foreseeable future. However, Blum also joked that, if anyone would be able to coax DeMonaco back to The Purge franchise, it would be him.

“He’s said he doesn’t want to do another one,” Blum told us. “But, I don’t know, I can be very persuasive.”

Welcome to the Blumhouse is available now in the UK on Amazon Prime Video. The Forever Purge is currently slated to arrive in UK cinemas on Friday 9th July, 2021.

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