It looks like horror legend John Carpenter may be making a return to directing movies. He's been out of the game for nearly a decade when it comes to directing features and has spent much more time on his music career in recent years. That's all been good and well, but someone as talented as Carpenter could potentially bring something special to a movie he directs and, though he doesn't have anything specific lined up right now, it sounds like he's possibly going to make a return to directing and is even working on some ideas. 


The 70-year-old director, who is very much alive despite having been declared wrongfully dead by Rotten Tomatoes on his birthday earlier this year, recently appeared on an episode of the Post Mortem Podcast. During the course of the conversation, he was asked about possibly returning to the world of directing movies. While making it clear the project would have to be right, he reveals he's possibly open to it. Here's what John Carpenter had to say about it.

"Sure, if it's right. Maybe. [I'm] working on a couple ideas. I love it... even the pain of it."

John Carpenter never really officially retired from directing movies, but in the early 2000s, he slowed down an awful lot. 2001's Ghost of Mars was panned by critics and fans, in addition to being a bomb at the box office. That seems to be the event that slowed down his directing. Though, he did also direct 2010's The Ward, which also didn't fare too well critically speaking. In any case, that was his last feature directorial effort. However, in the same interview, he reveals that directing the Christine music video he made last year was a lot of fun, which may have got him thinking about directing movies again.

"Last fall, I went out and made a music video for Christine... it was fun, I loved getting out there and doing it. It was so much fun."

Fun seems to be key here. John Carpenter can certainly seem like a bit of a grump sometimes in interviews. If he has an idea he's fond of and feels he can have fun making it, getting Carpenter back behind the camera could be a great thing for genre movie fans. His Masters of Horror episode Cigarette Burns from 2005 serves as proof that he's still had some great directorial efforts in his later career. As for what these mystery ideas could be? That's anyone's guess at this point. They're more than likely original ideas. But who knows? Maybe he's got some sequel in mind that we're completely unaware of.

Currently, John Carpenter is serving as an executive producer on Blumhouse's upcoming Halloween sequel, which he'll also be providing the original music for. Beyond that? His schedule actually seems mostly free and clear, so who knows? Maybe one of these ideas will materialize and we'll get a new John Carpenter movie in the relatively near future. For the full interview with Carpenter, you can check out the latest episode of the Post Mortem Podcast.