Another installment in The Purge film series was already inevitable, thanks to the box-office success of, and increasing critical affection for, the first three films in the series. (The A.V. Club’s Ryan Vlastelica even stumped for last summer’s The Purge: Election Year as an unlikely, but worthy, Oscar contender.) But now that we basically live inside of these movies—Exhibit A: Donald Trump lifting his re-election slogan straight from the tagline for Election Year—a fourth Purge feels more relevant than ever. We just have to avoid nuclear winter long enough to see it.
Deadline says that the details for the fourth Purge movie—which was first proposed in September but was given an official green light today—are ”under wraps.” But considering the ending of Election Year, and the interview series creator James DeMonaco gave to CinemaBlend last fall, this is presumably a prequel to the first three films. As promised, DeMonaco will write the new film, but will be handing directorial duties over to someone else. (He wrote and directed the first three films.)
The Purge 4 has been set for July 4, 2018, opposite Marvel’s Ant-Man And The Wasp; hopefully by then, we’ll have re-learned how to be carefree enough to care about the competing box-office prospects of the two.