The Purge 4 Release Date Announced, May Be A Prequel

Universal Pictures announced today that the fourth film in the horror series The Purge will hit theaters on Independence Day 2018--July 4, 2018. The franchise is of course themed around politics somewhat, so that date is surely no coincidence.

Entertainment Weekly reported the release date, adding that James DeMonaco, who has been behind the camera for the first three films, is not returning to direct the fourth. He will write the script, but a new director will take over. This person has not been named as of yet.

The three previous films, The Purge (2013), The Purge: Anarchy (2014), and The Purge: Election Year (2016), have combined to make almost $320 million worldwide. The budgets have been small for each, at $10 million or less, so they've been smash hits from a business perspective.

The conceit for all of the movies is that crime is legal every year for a 12-hour period as part of an event called "The Purge."

DeMonaco told CinemaBlend last year that the fourth Purge movie may be a prequel.

"I would actually go back and I would try to talk about how it all started. That seems the natural next chapter in this, is to say, 'Alright, we've done this trilogy. We see how it got to this point of someone trying to end it--this presidential figure. Now let's go back and see how the f**k all this came about,'" he explained.

"How did this country get to a place where we were now accepting this kind of atrocity, this terrible thing, each year? I think there's something interesting in that," he added.

Are you looking forward to the new Purge movie? Let us know in the comments below!