Halloween Horror Nights 30 (UOR) - Speculation & Rumors (2021)

[Dykealiscious]

October as well it looks like.

Yeah I called a few hours ago and got a discount on the reservation I already have for sept. He checked tickets and said not quite yet, as we all know, but for some reason he had to put me on hold to tell me that so...

 

[DannyPowers]

If we’re arguing popularity based on availability of merch, this is a fairly expensive set that’s available at a lot of retailers, including Target.

 

[kingmantis]

I feel like arguing over the amount of merch there is of Halloween 3 is getting lost in the weeds; I don’t think anyone’s arguing its not popular enough to justify its own house. We’ve seen more niche horror properties come to the event in recent years like Killer Klowns or Trick ‘r Treat, and they tend to follow the same pattern. They start as passion project scare zones from A&D, and presumably feedback from guests and merch sales justify to marketing to allow them to build a complete house the next year. If it was just Season of the Witch, I think it would be totally reasonable for it to come to the event the same exact way.

But it isn’t just Season of the Witch, it has the Halloween franchise name on it. Those other properties didn’t come with baggage, all they had to do was put on a quality show for people unfamiliar with the source material. For Season of the Witch though, the shadow of Michael Meyers looms large, it could be an awesome house but if he doesn’t show up in a Halloween maze a lot of the general public are going to be asking where he is.

Even if they drop Halloween and just call the maze Season of the Witch to sidestep this, they run into a different marketing problem. This is already a replacement for what was supposed to be the headliner for the event pre-COVID, and it’s not nearly as popular as Eilish. Also, Universal has a Halloween reboot sequel coming out in October yet embarrassingly can’t use is as a house. But Season of the Witch gives marketing a chance to stick Meyers on billboards for HHN and provide at least some kind of tie-in for Halloween Kills.

Again, I don’t think anyone’s arguing that Season of the Witch isn’t popular enough on its own to be at the event. But because of the Halloween name, trying to ignore Meyers will either create significant brand confusion for less-informed guests or it sacrifices synergy & marketing potential for an event already down a blockbuster IP and hamstrung by rights issues on the sequel.

TL;DR: Shoehorning Michael Meyers into Season of the Witch is less an artistic argument than it is a business decision.

 

[CoryLevy91]

TL;DR: Shoehorning Michael Meyers into Season of the Witch is less an artistic argument than it is a business decision.

My question again would be: why Season of the Witch then? Is that literally the only way to get Michael Myers in the event as things currently stand?

I fully understand wanting to put MM on the merch and marketing and the synergy with the new series and everything related to that beast but if they want to tap into those things, why would their solution be picking the only Halloween film that does not feature the iconic killer in it? Is it legitimately the only Halloween property they have access to? Are they barred from doing something 'original' with the character?

Also again, am I wrong in thinking that they really don't need to throw everything they have at marketing in order to draw in the crowds in both directions so why try to pull the Myers trump card in 2021? Not only will the local/hardcore fanbase be absolutely itching to return to the event but there may be a potential cap to the people that you can draw in since the world is still in the recovering phase of the pandemic. I think this year would have been a perfect year to put a lesser known property, even if it is tied to the Halloween franchise, and not have to worry about it being a big part of marketing.

 

[ReelJustice]

Also again, am I wrong in thinking that they really don't need to throw everything they have at marketing in order to draw in the crowds in both directions so why try to pull the Myers trump card in 2021?

Because, synergy with HHN Hollywood! With Creepshow as a rumored scarezone in Florida, a Creepshow house would be redundant. 2 bullets instead of one, as it were.

 

[kingmantis]

My question again would be: why Season of the Witch then? Is that literally the only way to get Michael Myers in the event as things currently stand?

I fully understand wanting to put MM on the merch and marketing and the synergy with the new series and everything related to that beast but if they want to tap into those things, why would their solution be picking the only Halloween film that does not feature the iconic killer in it? Is it legitimately the only Halloween property they have access to? Are they barred from doing something 'original' with the character?

Also again, am I wrong in thinking that they really don't need to throw everything they have at marketing in order to draw in the crowds in both directions so why try to pull the Myers trump card in 2021? Not only will the local/hardcore fanbase be absolutely itching to return to the event but there may be a potential cap to the people that you can draw in since the world is still in the recovering phase of the pandemic. I think this year would have been a perfect year to put a lesser known property, even if it is tied to the Halloween franchise, and not have to worry about it being a big part of marketing.

I'm thinking through the franchise and honestly, yes, it may just be down to H3 at this point. I think maybe they could swing H5, since it's rights seem to be bundled with 1 & 4 which they used in the past, but 6 and and the H20 series are Dimension and the Reboot series is Mirimax. Both productions companies seem to have a fraught history with the event. I think original use of the character is even stickier so I'm not gonna speculate there.

The counterpoint to marketing is with how quickly things are reopening, for better or worse parks seem to be planning for a complete return to normal by the Fall, if not earlier. And if your expecting zero capacity limits or social distancing restrictions and insane demand, why not try to goose those numbers further? HHN30 is the big return of the event, so Michael Meyers is an easy headliner to get as many people as possible.

FWIW I agree with wanting lesser known properties at the event, but then again I'd prefer a return to the mostly-original houses of the past as well. But capitalism is gonna capitalism, and they're gonna want to pack the place as much as possible to make up for a complete lack of revenue from last year's HHN and build hype for the also-delayed sequel in theaters.

 

[JawsVictim]

H3 isn’t replacing Eilish. That house wasn’t planned for 2021 because her marketing team already knew she was changing her look for her next album’s promotional cycle (duh!). That space doesn’t have to be a headliner IP because it isn’t replacing anything.

 

[DannyPowers]

she was changing her look for her next album’s promotional cycle (duh!)

Is that a sly Billie reference you threw in there? Well done.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

H3 isn’t replacing Eilish. That house wasn’t planned for 2021 because her marketing team already knew she was changing her look for her next album’s promotional cycle (duh!). That space doesn’t have to be a headliner IP because it isn’t replacing anything.

It is replacing Eilish in the sense the remaining houses are returning without her. Events are planned and balanced so yes she’s being “replaced”.

 

[kingmantis]

Yeah it's not a last minute rebuild but marketing is probably looking for something with comparable draw power.

If MM does wind up in H3 and on billboards, its actually kinda funny how closely the headliners advertised would parallel HHN26. You'll have an anthology TV Series (AHS & Hill House), a nostalgia Warner Brothers IP (Exorcist& Beetlejuice), the return of both Leatherface and Michael Meyers, all tied together with a returning clown icon.

 

[JawsVictim]

It is replacing Eilish in the sense the remaining houses are returning without her. Events are planned and balanced so yes she’s being “replaced”.

No, Eilish wasn’t planned for 2021, so it’s not replacing anything. Regardless of the pandemic and returning houses, Eilish wasn’t happening in 2021. It was a one time deal for 2020 that didn’t happen.

My point is that the event doesn’t need a huge IP in that space. The event will be perfectly fine without Eilish or without a mega IP draw. A niche IP like H3 fits in fine with the existing line up.

 

[GA-MBIT]

No, Eilish wasn’t planned for 2021, so it’s not replacing anything. Regardless of the pandemic and returning houses, Eilish wasn’t happening in 2021. It was a one time deal for 2020 that didn’t happen.

My point is that the event doesn’t need a huge IP in that space. The event will be perfectly fine without Eilish or without a mega IP draw. A niche IP like H3 fits in fine with the existing line up.

Mmm, I dunno man. I think you'd have to be purposely obtuse to think that Billie isn't being replaced. Yeah, Billie wasn't planned for 2021, but neither was literally every other house/zone. We didn't have an event last year. Had HHN2020 happened, none of the 2020 houses would return. They are going to try last years' event this year, except for Billie. They aren't changing much about the event besides the Shrek house. Effectively, she is being replaced and it would make sense to expect them to "replace" their headliner with another big name. That's the way I see it at least.

 

[Legacy]

No, Eilish wasn’t planned for 2021, so it’s not replacing anything. Regardless of the pandemic and returning houses, Eilish wasn’t happening in 2021. It was a one time deal for 2020 that didn’t happen.

My point is that the event doesn’t need a huge IP in that space. The event will be perfectly fine without Eilish or without a mega IP draw. A niche IP like H3 fits in fine with the existing line up.

By this logic, the other nine houses are replacing what we were supposed to get in 2021.

But, we’re back to the weird expectations H3 garners. “Season of the Witch” is a niche movie. “Halloween 3” is a big IP draw.

 

[JawsVictim]

By this logic, the other nine houses are replacing what we were supposed to get in 2021.

But, we’re back to the weird expectations H3 garners. “Season of the Witch” is a niche movie. “Halloween 3” is a big IP draw.

To an extend, I do think that’s true. A&D probably did have a plan in place for 2021 that got axed to accommodate the canceled 2020 event.

Also, the other nine houses were kept in place throughout the pandemic. Eilish got struck pretty fast.

 

[Legacy]

To an extend, I do think that’s true. A&D probably did have a plan in place for 2021 that got axed to accommodate the canceled 2020 event.

Also, the other nine houses were kept in place throughout the pandemic. Eilish got struck pretty fast.

Eilish was never finished. It only got about 70% completed. The other ones were all show-ready.

 

[kingmantis]

No, Eilish wasn’t planned for 2021, so it’s not replacing anything. Regardless of the pandemic and returning houses, Eilish wasn’t happening in 2021. It was a one time deal for 2020 that didn’t happen.

My point is that the event doesn’t need a huge IP in that space. The event will be perfectly fine without Eilish or without a mega IP draw. A niche IP like H3 fits in fine with the existing line up.

HHN Marketing Execs:

 

[Parkscope Joe]

No, Eilish wasn’t planned for 2021, so it’s not replacing anything. Regardless of the pandemic and returning houses, Eilish wasn’t happening in 2021. It was a one time deal for 2020 that didn’t happen.

My point is that the event doesn’t need a huge IP in that space. The event will be perfectly fine without Eilish or without a mega IP draw. A niche IP like H3 fits in fine with the existing line up.

None of these houses were planned for 2021 but the whole event was pushed out a year. Eilish could not be used so it must be replaced. You're trying to do mental gymnastics here.

 

[JawsVictim]

None of these houses were planned for 2021 but the whole event was pushed out a year. Eilish could not be used so it must be replaced. You're trying to do mental gymnastics here.

All of the 2020 houses were able to be pushed. Eilish was never on the table for 2021 because of her marketing team’s efforts to change her image. She was never planned for 2021 and a new house was 100% going into that space this year, even without a pandemic.

The argument is “Eilish was suppose to be there, so the event needs a huge IP to replace her.” I’m pointing out that isn’t true for 2021 and anything could have been planned to go there expect an Eilish house.

 

[Brian G.]

Are we really arguing over the semantics of "replace"?

A replacement is a replacement. There may be different reasons, but it's still getting replaced.

 

[Tbad556]

Yeah, this is silly

If Halloween 3 is happening, then you will either upset the general public who don't grasp the film outside of the franchise title or the diehards. It's understandable to wonder how they'll approach it. Whether merch is sold for it or if it has taken on cult status in recent years, the general public are still incredibly "dumb" and absolutely will get confused at the concept just as they were confused with the movie's existence when it released decades ago.

Billie may have never been on the table for 2021, but people are simply comparing the OG 2020 lineup with the nearly identical 2021 lineup and how that one difference will change the marketability factor of things. I don't think anyone doesn't grasp at this point that the 2021 lineup got altered by everything or that Billie isn't returning for obvious reasons.

These aren't tricky concepts. Whether you think H3 should cater to the general public is a fair discussion as is wondering if they need the Michael Myers push to make up for a big name not following the event from 2020 into 2021 as the rest of the originally planned lineup did. Personally, I'd be fine with Michael appearing as a cameo in the end to try to appease both sides and don't think they need a Billie-sized replacement in a year where people are going to travel in large numbers no matter what. Plus, there's not much that could replace the size of Billie tbh. Those are massive shoes to fill in terms of marketing power.