'John Carpenter Presents:' Horror Legend John Carpenter Launches Anthology Series

It’s not every day that a producer’s name shows up in the very title of a movie or show, but “John Carpenter Presents” is perhaps a special case. It would be difficult to name a more distinguished person still working in the horror genre than John Carpenter, although it has been some decades since he last helmed a high-profile project. Now, this ineffable icon of thrills and chills will return to produce – and present – a horror anthology series.

“John Carpenter Presents” – An Exclusively Supernatural Anthology

“John Carpenter Presents,” whose release date is currently TBA, was created by Michael Amo and Will Pascoe, who will also serve as its showrunners. Both creators have experience with TV shows featuring fantastical concepts: Amo was also the creator of the fantasy drama series “The Listener” (2009-14), while Pascoe served as producer on the sci-fi thriller series “Orphan Black” (2013-17).

“John Carpenter Presents” will be an entirely fantastical show, focusing on supernatural horror across a variety of settings and featuring diverse casts of characters. The premise of its first season will entail one such group of people in an isolated region of Alaska, facing what is described in the official synopsis (per The Hollywood Reporter) as “a chilling mix of supernatural and existential terror.” Thus far, no actors have been announced for “John Carpenter Presents.”

Elevation Pictures, the production company for “John Carpenter Presents,” has professed to be extremely pleased to have entered into this deal with Carpenter. “We’re thrilled to launch into the television space with the master of horror, John Carpenter,” said producer Christina Piovesan on October 24, also per THR, “Will and Michael bring deep experience in writing and showrunning, and we can’t be more excited for this creative team to bring this series to audiences.”

Sandy King, John Carpenter’s wife and the founder and CEO of the publishing and production company Storm King Productions, will also be an executive producer on “John Carpenter Presents.”

John Carpenter’s Career: What Has He Presented Thus Far?

Born in 1948, John Carpenter has been making horror and thriller films for half a century. Alongside the late Wes Craven, he is one of two directors to whom the appellation “Master of Horror” is most commonly applied. But his legendary reputation owes predominantly to a series of classic films released in the late 1970s and ’80s, including “Escape from New York” (1981), “Christine” (1983), “The Thing” 1982), and, most iconic of all, the 1978 slasher film “Halloween,” which launched a burgeoning horror franchise.

Carpenter’s work in the 1990s (including “In the Mouth of Madness,” “Escape from L.A.,” and “Vampires”) was steady, if not as impactful, but in the 2000s, he took a long hiatus from directing features. 2010’s “The Ward,” a psychological thriller starring Amber Heard, was his first feature film since 2001’s financially disastrous “Ghosts of Mars.” “The Ward” was similarly unsuccessful with both critics and audiences, and Carpenter has yet to direct another feature film in the 15 years since.

However, this is not to say that the master has been out of commission by any means. Carpenter has served as producer or executive producer on films based on properties he created decades earlier: most notably, the 2005 remake of “The Fog” and Blumhouse’s “Halloween” reboot trilogy (2018-22). He was also a creative consultant on the latter, and as an accomplished composer who has scored many of his own films (and released his first album in 2015), he also lent his musical talents to this trilogy.

Moreover, “John Carpenter Presents” will not be his first experience with anthology horror. In the mid-2000s, he directed two episodes of a series titled “Masters of Horror,” and one out of the eight episodes of the 2023 Peacock series “Suburban Scream,” which he also co-executive-produced.