We have reached the date that the annual "Purge" night takes place each year in The Purge movie series, and given what's been happening in the world lately, the day couldn't have come at an eerier time. In the original installment of the series, which was released in 2013, the opening credits show security footage clips of the Purge night carnage, and one of them is dated March 21, 2020. Now that we've come upon that date in real life, many fans of the movie are getting a bit creeped out by the similarities, because as with the movie, businesses have been shut down as people hole up in their homes to avoid the madness outside. Of course, the motivations between them are wildly different.

Written and directed by James DeMonaco, The Purge was released in the summer of 2013 and stars Ethan Hawke, Lena Headey, Adelaide Kane, and Max Burkholder. It tells the story of what's called the Purge, an annual night in which any and all crime, including murder, is legal for a period of 12 hours. The idea is to "purge" the population by letting homicidal psychopaths roam free to cause as much destruction as possible. To survive, people must hunker down with high-tech security systems or by using other means of avoiding the murderers outside. The movie was a huge hit, grossing nearly $90 million against a low budget of just $3 million, spawning a popular franchise.

There have been multiple follow-up movies released in the years since to further expand the mythology of The Purge. This includes the sequels Anarchy and Election Year, with the latter following a politician hoping to survive the night and legally bring an end to the Purge. The 2018 prequel The First Purge goes back in time to 2014 when the deadly Purge night was first enacted by the fictional New Founding Fathers of America. The official television series adaptation also premiered that year, with the series recently wrapping its second season back in December.

At least one more Purge movie is said to be heading our way as well. Back in 2018, creator James DeMonaco said he was going to write the fifth installment of the movie series, which has been tentatively referred to as The Last Purge. "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," DeMonaco explained in an interview at the time. The movie was given a release date of July 10, 2020, but given the way things are now, it might end up taking a little while longer to release.

While there have been a few bad apples among us fighting over toilet paper, the reality is that none of us wants to see anything like The Purge happening in real life. Let's take care of one another as best we can during this coronavirus pandemic by keeping our distance and staying inside as much as possible. It's a great time to watch movies, but given the eerie date the movie takes place, perhaps today isn't the best day to watch The Purge or its sequels. You can check out what some people are saying about today falling on Purge Day by taking a look at the tweets below.