If a movie is successful, it will very often get a sequel, assuming there is a way to logically make that happen. In the case of horror movies, they will often get as many sequels as the studio can manage to pump out until it simply isn't profitable anymore. That being the case, Universal is moving ahead with The Purge 4 and has given the movie a release date. It looks like we'll be returning to the world of The Purge on the 4th of July next year.

Per a report from Deadline, Universal, Blumhouse and Platinum Dunes have made it official and given The Purge 4 a Wednesday, July 4, 2018, release date. That falls right in line with the strategy that was employed with the previous movie in the franchise The Purge: Election Year, which came out last year on July 1. That worked out very well for the studio, since the movie brought in $118 million worldwide working from just a $10 million production budget.

As for what The Purge 4, which is not an official title, will be about, it probably won't take place after the events of The Purge: Election Year, since *spoilers* the annual evening of crime was abolished at the end of that movie. Last year, director James DeMonaco, who directed all three of the previous entries in The Purge franchise but won't likely directed this upcoming installment, said that he feels The Purge 4 will likely wind up being a prequel. Since he is writing the movie, it seems very possible that is what will happen. Here is what he had to say in an interview CinemaBlend last year.

"I don't think I'll direct it. I would actually go back and I would try to talk about how it all started. That seems the natural next chapter in this, is to say, 'Alright, we've done this trilogy. We see how it got to this point of someone trying to end it - this presidential figure. Now let's go back and see how the fuck all this came about.' How did this country get to a place where we were now accepting this kind of atrocity, this terrible thing, each year? I think there's something interesting in that. I don't think I'll direct, between you and I. You can print that, I mean. I'm thinking of maybe writing or at least producing it, to make sure it stays true to what I like about the movies."

Each one of The Purge movies has explored different corners of that universe, but we haven't really seen how this night came to be and if that is the route that The Purge 4 ultimately takes, as DeMonaco suggests, that could be something different for fans to chew on. In addition to the new movie, there are also plans for a Purge TV series that is currently in development. The show, as James DeMonaco describes it, would be an anthology style series with six or seven interwoven story lines that will intersect at various points and will implement flashbacks to fill in the gaps.

To date, The Purge movies have made a combined $315 million which have cost a combined $23 million to make, which means they have been big time earners for the studio. So, they are likely to extend the franchise beyond The Purge 4 if they can. That movie will have some pretty stiff competition, as Marvel Studios is planning on releasing Ant-Man and the Wasp that same weekend on July 6. But with a two-day head start, The Purge 4 could still wind up making a pretty penny next year. There is no word yet on a cast or rumored director for The Purge 4, but since the movie will probably have to go into production relatively soon to meet the release date, we will surely be learning more details in the near future.