Christopher Landon discusses plans for Happy Death Day 3

Could we eventually see the return of Jessica Rothe as Tree in Happy Death Day 3? Well, writer and director Christopher Landon really wants it to happen and he reckons its eventual manifestation could boil down to the fans…

When the original Happy Death Day hit in 2017, the time-traveling slasher introduced us to Tree and a new final girl was born; the sequel, Happy Death Day 2U came along quickly in 2019 and we’ve been waiting ever since for the third installment and, frankly, more of Rothe as Tree.

In a new interview, Landon reveals that he’s constantly asked about the third movie and rather than it annoying him, he wants it to continue: “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.”

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So, if you see Landon out and about, please, please, please ask him about it!

As for the movie itself, Landon has revealed that he knows where the story goes and hopes to eventually make it: “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 on the same day as the previous two films. That’s the biggest spoiler I’ve put out there.”

The first movie saw Tree reliving the day of her death over and over again, waking up, always killed by the same baby-faced killer, and using the time loop to find out who was murdering her and why. The sequel took place on the same day and this time, Tree got closer to finding out why she was stuck in the time loop, setting up a much bigger world to be explored by the franchise but then… nothing.

Jessica Rothe gives promising update on Happy Death Day 3

“I have a whole movie! It’s not even an idea,” Landon said in 2023, “I pitched the entire movie to [Universal] and they loved it.

“That was the funny part. They were like, ‘Oh, my God, that’s so unexpected and so cool.’ It’s not dependent, it’s not set in the same day as the previous films, so it could be made now, or in two years or three years. It would still work. But the trickier thing, too, and in fairness to them, it’s a bigger idea than the previous two films, so it would be a more expensive movie.”

Rothe herself spoke about the third movie last, saying it was a matter of when rather than if: “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 [Gelbman] deserves her third and final chapter to bring that incredible character and franchise to a close… or a new beginning.”

The movies played out like Groundhog Day meets Scream and was a lot of fun but the semi-cliffhanger ending has left us waiting for an ending or, as Rothe said, a new beginning. Either way, Tree deserves her happy ending and the world deserves more Tree.

Let me know your thoughts, Nerds and Nerdettes.

Watch the full interview: