Spoiler Alert: This story contains MAJOR SPOILERS for Halloween Ends.The saga of Laurie Strode vs. Michael Myers finally comes to an end, for good this time, with the release of Halloween Ends. Now playing in theaters and on Peacock, the film brings back Jamie Lee Curtis to cap off a trilogy that director David Gordon Green began with the 2018 movie. The film culminates with a rather definitive ending that sees the death of Michael Myers after one final battle with Laurie, followed by the residents of Haddonfield carrying out a “funeral procession” of sorts — only the “Boogeyman” goes into an industrial shredder rather than a burial plot.

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In a new chat with Entertainment Weekly, Green explains what went into writing the ending of the film. Of course, they knew that there would be a certain amount of pressure to conclude the story, and because of this, multiple endings were considered. Ultimately, the filmmakers chose to go with a more hopeful ending, which includes a final shot of Laurie rekindling her romance with Will Patton’s Hawkins. This was partly because they wanted it to be very different from how the last movie ended.

Green also spoke about the difficulties in writing Halloween Ends, noting how the screenplay has gone through a lot of changes over the course of four years. Because the plan was to release Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends back to back, Green had been simultaneously working with different writing teams on both films. While co-writer Danny McBride was there for all of the movies, Scott Teems was brought in to help flesh out Kills while Paul Brad Logan and Chris Bernier helped co-wrote Ends.

The Final Battle Went Through Many Changes

     Universal Pictures

Because the script went through some changes, there are obviously many differences compared to the original draft, though some “spectacular fights” have been with Halloween Ends from the start. Green also explained how he kept coming up with new ways to change certain scenes during production, especially the final battle with Laurie and Michael, that it had been shot in pieces over time. But for Green, it was important to make sure that the scene had an emotional impact, as he “didn’t want it to just be a brawl.” Green also noted how much test screenings have changed the final cut of the film, revealing how the big funeral procession scene came in after the original cut was complete.

So the final battle and Michael’s ultimate end might be different from the first cut of the film, but what of Laurie Strode’s fate? We’ve previously seen the character killed off in Halloween: Resurrection, so we know she’s never safe in this franchise. Even so, Green said it was never considered that Laurie would die in Halloween Ends, feeling that the character has just “come too far” with her journey at this point and deserves to have a future we can believe in… even if we’ll never see the character again.

Halloween Ends is playing in theaters and on Peacock.