‘The Forever Purge’: When will Blumhouse stop destroying this franchise?

The trailer for the long-awaited The Forever Purge film has just been released, and it looks as violent, gory, and intense as ever. The Forever Purge, which will be the fifth and final installment to The Purge franchise, certainly promises through watching the trailer alone that the series is prepared to go out with a bang. However, did we even really need this many additions to this franchise in the first place? 

A timeline of the films

It’s strange to think that The Purge franchise has been alive and well for so long, as the first film to the series was released around eight years ago. Oh, how the time flies. It seems like only yesterday when we first were introduced to such a terrifying yet iconic concept that shook the world and left a defining mark in the horror movie genre. After all, what really terrified people was the possibility that The Purge can turn into a reality.  

From the very first movie of The Purge franchise, it was an instant success. The film which had a three million budget ended up surpassing that number significantly by millions by making 89.3 million dollars at the box office. Even if the movie was met with incredibly low reviews by critics as the film currently holds a thirty-nine percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, it was clear that the general public was hooked. 

Due to the huge success of The Purge, it was immediately turned into a franchise. Within a year, The Purge: Anarchy was released in 2014, then later on The Purge: Election Year hit theaters in 2016, and then The First Purge was created in 2018, and now finally, we have The Forever Purge coming soon this summer. While the critics may have continued hating it, the theaters still remained packed with each release.

The Purge: Anarchy, The Purge: Election Year, and The First Purge all ended up significantly surpassing their budgets by millions, with all three films making over 100 million respectively at the box office. The First Purge ended up making the most money with 137.1 million, which truly proved that this series is well-loved by the general public, and we truly can’t get enough. 

Through it all, the main concept of these films remained the same. It introduced film-goers to a terrifying near-future America, where somehow crime rates have dropped and the country is doing better than ever. However, it’s all due to the Purge, an annual national holiday in which all crime, including murder, becomes legal for a twelve-hour period. 

This dystopian reality was the central element that moved The Purge franchise forward, and with each new addition to the series, the producers and directors were given more chances to get political and add some social commentary as well. 

One night is not enough. #TheForeverPurge in theaters July 2. Watch the trailer now. pic.twitter.com/mjYMdONsUL

— The Forever Purge (@UniversalHorror) May 12, 2021

The latest addition

The Forever Purge will actually be a direct sequel to The Purge: Election Year released in 2016. According to the trailer, the movie will center on a couple who are stranded on a ranch in Texas. They are met with a group who are illegally trying to continue their own purge. The trailer promises some gory violence, tons of jump-scares, and of course, plenty of horrifying masks. 

The Forever Purge stars Ana de la Reguera, Tenoch Huerta, Josh Lucas, Will Patton, and more, and the highly-anticipated film will be hitting theaters on July 2nd, 2021. From the looks of the trailer alone, we’re sure that this movie will give the fans a satisfyingly terrifying end to one of this generation’s most loved horror movie franchises. We can’t wait to watch it. 

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Do you think all these additions to The Purge franchise have been necessary, or do you think that Blumhouse is destroying it by having so many movies? Let us know in the comments how you feel.