Happy Death Day 3 will be “a bigger movie,” if filmmaker Christopher Landon can ever get on the same page with Blumhouse and Universal to get it made. This is the latest update from the writer and director, and during his appearance at this year’s New York Comic Con, Landon also revealed that the third installment in the series has now taken a physical form. However, Landon does not have a full screenplay completed. Rather, he has penned a treatment for the Happy Death Day 2U sequel. And, in addition to HDD3 being “bigger,” Landon gave away an even juicier spoiler during his interview with ComicBook.com at the NYCC:
“I could say that I wrote a treatment. I didn’t write the script, because I wouldn’t write a script unless it was a sure thing. Here’s the cool thing: It is a bigger movie, and it is not set in the same day as the previous two films. That’s the biggest spoiler I’ve put out there.”
When asked if he ever tires of “nerds” asking him about whether Happy Death Day 3 will happen, Landon’s answer was an encouraging one for fans dying to see Tree (Jessica Rothe) go up against a version of the Babyface Killer once again. Landon replied by saying in the same interview:
“I don’t hate it at all. I love it, I’m all for it. I want people to keep asking because I feel like if people keep asking, we all might actually get it. So, I’m down.”
One thing about Landon’s response that might worry the Happy Death Day fans is the fact that he said the new sequel won’t be set on Tree’s birthday as the first two films were. And since Landon didn’t mention the series’ primary protagonist, or the actress who portrays her, does this mean Tree won’t be featured in Happy Death Day 3?
Jessica Rothe Assures Fans Happy Death Day 3 Is ‘Figured Out’
Filmmaker Christopher Landon has gone from hoping to make Happy Death Day 3 back in February 2023 to now having a treatment laid out for the threequel. But if the third installment does not take place on Tree’s (Rothe) birthday, does that mean fans have seen the last of the series’ heroine — not to mention the Babyface Killer? Or will someone else don the terrifyingly cherubic mask?
Rothe definitely wants to return for another go-round as Tree Gelbman. And judging from what she revealed during an interview with ScreenGeek, Rothe will be back as Tree if the movie is ever greenlit. The actress said:
“Well, I can say Chris Landon has the whole thing figured out. We just need to wait for Blumhouse and Universal to get their ducks in a row. But my fingers are so crossed. I think Tree deserves her third and final chapter to bring that incredible character and franchise to a close or a new beginning.”
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Jessica Rothe Still Hoping for Happy Death Day 3: ‘My Fingers Are So Crossed’
Jessica Rothe says her Happy Death Day character “deserves her third and final chapter.”
One wonders if Landon’s treatment for Happy Death Day 3 includes the possible Freaky crossover the filmmaker alluded to back in 2023. “The Happy Death Day/Freaky crossover is more just the fantasy of getting to work with Jessica Rothe and Kathryn [Newton] together in one film,” Landon told Screen Rant. Freaky was an inventive take on Freaky Friday if that film had been written for the horror genre, which ultimately featured Vince Vaughn’s bruising Blissfield Butcher switching bodies with high school teenager Millie Kessler (Newton).
For now, though, horror fans will just have to rewatch the first two films in the Happy Death Day franchise until Landon, Blumhouse and Universal can all come to terms on when, and if, the macabre horror-comedy might return. Happy Death Day and its 2019 sequel, Happy Death Day 2U, are both currently available to stream on Peacock.