August 13, 2015 – Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights has just made the least likely announcement imaginable in pairing a movie concept with a maze for their annual Halloween event. The new attraction this year will be based on the apocalypse comedy This Is The End, a surprise hit from 2013.
Considered an odd and unlikely choice by many in the horror community, fans of Halloween Horror Nights had been hinting at a possible maze based off the 2013 comedy based on a series of Snapchats released yesterday. Indeed, members from USHForums.com had been hinting at a possible This Is The End maze as early as late July.
This Is The End will be a 3D maze with a comedic/horror element – starting at James Franco’s house party and leading to, well, the end of the world. With other properties like Friday the 13th or Texas Chainsaw Massacre, we would clearly expect to see Freddy Krueger or Leatherface, but with this maze it’s unclear as to if we will see Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride or Craig Robinson lookalikes.
With this new announcement Halloween Horror Nights 2015 is shaping up to be one of the more interesting events in recent history. Only time will tell how this new direction will pay off, but for now, please stay tuned to Inside Universal for more on this and other stories originating from Universal Studios Hollywood.
Universal City, California, August 12, 2015 – In a bold, new approach to bringing iconic horror films to life during “Halloween Horror Nights,” Universal Studios Hollywood will break new ground with the introduction of its first ever 3D horror-comedy maze, “This is the End 3D,” based on 2013’s hit movie starring James Franco, Seth Rogen Jonah Hill, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride and Craig Robinson. “Halloween Horror Nights” begins on Friday, September 18, 2015.
The hilarity of this genre-defying blockbuster movie, This is the End, will take a dark turn in this all-new maze experience that will come to life in hypnotic 3D. The end of the world will begin as guests head to the ultimate A-list party at James Franco’s new Hollywood Hills home, before the Apocalypse strikes and they find themselves trapped in a life-and-death struggle against the demons of the underworld. With the fate of humanity at the crossroads of heaven and hell, “This is the End 3D” will offer defining moments for those guests brave enough to tempt the devil as their destiny hangs in the balance to be damned for eternity or raptured to heaven engulfed in a sea of blue light.
“This is the End brings a new dimension of fear to ‘Halloween Horror Nights’ by fusing the best of two extreme worlds—horror and comedy— to create a literal and figurative three-dimensional experiential version of the film,” said John Murdy, Creative Director at Universal Studios Hollywood and Executive Producer of “Halloween Horror Nights.” “Our collaboration with James Franco, Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill to transform this outrageous movie into a terrifying maze underscores the impact of ‘Halloween Horror Nights’ as one the most influential Halloween events around.”
“Halloween Horror Nights” 2015 at Universal Studios Hollywood kicks off on Friday, September 18 and continues on select nights through November 1. The popular event brings together the sickest minds in horror to immerse guests in a living, breathing, three-dimensional world of terror. Featuring an all-new slate of unrivaled film production quality mazes, frightful scare zones and a fully re-imagined “Terror Tram” experience uniquely themed to today’s most definitive horror properties, “Halloween Horror Nights” will taunt, terrorize and torment guests with spine-chilling haunted attractions during Southern California’s most extreme Halloween experience.
Recent maze announcements include “Guillermo del Toro Presents Crimson Peak: Maze of Madness,” based on Legendary and Universal Pictures’ much-anticipated Crimson Peak film directed, co-written and produced by celebrated filmmaker Guillermo del Toro; “The Walking Dead: Wolves Not Far,” based on season 5 of the critically-acclaimed, Emmy Award®-winning television series, “Insidious: Return to the Further,” based on the bone-chilling Insidious film trilogy, and “Halloween: Michael Myers Comes Home,” based on director John Carpenter’s cult-classic horror film. This year’s event will also feature the global phenomenon and multi-talented dance crew, Jabbawockeez, direct from Las Vegas in an all-new original show, performing multiple times per night throughout the run of “Halloween Horror Nights.”
Christopher Tillman is an editor for Inside Universal.
Christopher is a California native who grew up visiting all of the Golden State’s theme parks. While studying theatre in college Christopher bounced around working at a few different attractions in Orange Country and Los Angeles. Now the father of a two year old, he is experiencing theme parks in a whole new way and has become the old man saying things like; “I remember when KITT and the A-Team van used to be here.”
You may contact Christopher at christophertillman@insideuniversal.net.
