After attending the Conan taping during San Diego Comic-Con 2018 on Saturday, July 21, we headed over to The Purge: From Film to Television panel that would talk about the new TV series based on the Purge franchise.
It was around 5:00pm when the Conan taping let out, and the Purge panel started at 5:15pm, so by the time we made our way back to the convention center and over to Room 6BCF, the panel had already begun. Luckily, there were still a good number of seats available and we were able to walk right in.
The panel included Producer Jason Blum (founder of Blumhouse Productions), James DeMonaco (creator of the Purge film franchise), the show’s Producer Brad Fuller, the show’s Director/Executive Producer Anthony Hemingway, Showrunner/Executive Producer Thomas Kelly, The First Purge star Lex Scott Davis, and series cast members Gabriel Chavarria, Amanda Warren, and Fiona Dourif.
We learned that James DeMonaco wrote and directed the first three Purge movies within three years. He also wrote The First Purge, which recently came out in theaters this Summer. DeMonaco revealed what inspired the first Purge movie. He and his wife had almost been killed in a road rage incident, and his wife made a comment like, “I wish we all had one a year.” Other factors played into it as well, such as how violence in Paris is handled compared to in the U.S., and how Hurricane Katrina was handled in New Orleans. As for the second movie, Purge: Anarchy, this was born out of the fans’ reaction to the first movie and wanting to see what was happening on the streets during the Purge, rather than staying inside of one house. Regarding the third one, Purge: Election Year, he had always wanted to do a political conspiracy theory thriller. Then of course the fourth one, The First Purge, was because people wanted to know how this all started.
DeMonaco admitted that he did purposely put some socioeconomic commentary into the movies, but he also wanted the movies to be entertaining and not too heavy-handed or preachy.
Although DeMonaco directed the first three films, Gerard McMurray directed the fourth film, which is an African-American centered story. DeMonaco pointed out that he had wanted the first Purge to take place in his hometown of Staten Island, because he wanted it to take place on an island, so that the government would be able to contain it. Additionally, the city is very segregated, which plays into the story.
Switching gears to talk about The Purge TV series, which premieres on the USA network on September 4, we were shown a trailer for the show. It will be a 10 episode series with four or five storylines, and they’ll be able to have more time to dive into details that they weren’t able to in the movies. The series takes place between the second and third Purge movies. You can view the trailer below:
Anthony Hemingway talked about the fun they had making the series, and how they took an “anything goes” approach, including tapping into today’s social climate. DeMonaco spoke about how having the ten hours gives them a lot more time to explore aspects that they didn’t have time to in the movies, such as how society reacts when something like the Purge exists, and what happens in the time leading up to the Purge.
The cast members each told us a little bit about the characters that they play on the show. Gabriel Chavarria plays Miguel, who has a bit of a hard edge to him. He receives a cryptic letter from his sister just before the Purge commences, so he goes on a journey to find her. Amanda Warren plays Jane, who is a very determined workhorse that feels she is being undervalued, so she sees Purge Night as a way to remedy that. Fiona Dourif plays Good Leader Tavis, who tells her disciples to kill themselves on Purge Night.
Showrunner Thomas Kelly commented that you don’t need to have seen the movies in order to watch the show. However, those who are fans of the movies will be able to appreciate some of the things they see in the show. DeMonaco confirmed that there are some Easter eggs in the show from the movies. Kelly also said that as violent as the show is, they want it to send an anti-violence message and be a cautionary tale. But the violence has not had to be toned down from film to TV. “I have four children and I cannot believe what you can put on basic cable!” he said.
One of the things that Chavarria hopes the audience learns from the show is not to judge a book by its cover, and that there should be more efforts to open up communications more to learn more about other people. Dourif commented that she felt like there were no good or bad guys on the show, and that when people did horrible things you could understand why — even her own character.
We then got to watch a clip from the show which was introduced as “the first killing” of the show. I don’t believe that this clip is available online. In the clip, a busload of teenagers dressed in robes is driven into the middle of nowhere on Purge Night. The cult leader, who tells them that “one last moment of suffering will lead to eternal love,” selects one of them, saying, “It’s your time to give.” As he exits the bus, the others creepily say in unison, “Bye Arthur. We love you Arthur.” They then chant some words about purifying his soul and so forth, as he goes and stands in the middle of a field. He looks like he may be having second thoughts in the moments before he is purged upon.
Audience members were also given the opportunity to ask questions of the panelists.
Jason Blum said that he feels that The Purge doesn’t get enough credit for laying the groundwork for modern horror movies with social messages like Get Out. Blum pointed out that horror movies often appeal to a younger audience, and that when he was younger, he didn’t really think about political things. He is excited to use the genre in such a way that when people leave the cinema or turn off the TV, people think about the world at large.
The question came up of crimes other than murder. It turns out that there have been other crimes that were cut out of the movies, such as car theft, sexual crimes, and computer crimes.
The actors each talked about how excited they were when they first got the news that they would be in The Purge. We also learned that Fiona Dourif’s character was actually initially written as a man.
As far as themes that will be touched upon during the show, it was confirmed that it will address some “hot button” current issues. For example, the storyline of Amanda Warren’s character, Jane, revolves around the white collar workforce, so we’ll see issues of race, class, politics, and gender. Warren hinted that we should pay attention to the dialogue and subtle action, as there is a lot going on.
When asked how the studio chooses these out of the box stories to work on, Blum spoke about how Blumhouse actually has the money to make films with bigger budgets, but they choose to do lower budget films because it allows them to take chances and do something controversial, rather than commercial, and that says something about society. One of the main questions they consider when choosing material is “Does it feel different?” He went on to reiterate that low budgets allow them to explore edgy material.
As the panel wrapped up, they encouraged audience members to visit the Purge City activation. Unfortunately, that is one offsite we were unable to make it to this year, other than passing by it. But you can click here to read about it and see pictures from our friends over at Nerdophiles!
It was about 6:15pm when the panel ended, so we decided to head over to Future Tech Live over at the Omni Hotel, which was going to close at 7:00pm. Click here for more on that!
You can view more of our photos from The Purge panel at SDCC 2018 below.
