John Carpenter would direct again "given the right circumstances"

Though his influence is ever-present in pop culture, John Carpenter hasn't directed a film since 2012.

By Matt Schimkowitz | March 25, 2025 | 9:15pm

Photo by Michael Tullberg (Getty Images)

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Fresh off agreeing to score the next Bong Joon Ho movie, John Carpenter prepares to take his rightful place on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His name will be emblazoned on a star for tourists from all over the world to see, leaving them to ask, “Why doesn’t John Carpenter make movies anymore?” Despite being responsible for so much of modern genre filmmaking, the director hasn’t made a movie since 2012’s The Ward— unless we count that episode of John Carpenter’s Suburban Screams on Peacock. While he seems pretty content to play video games and watch basketball—and frankly, who could blame him—Carpenter maintains that he still loves directing. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to do so in over a decade.

In a new interview with Variety, the 77-year-old director clarified his position on directing: He’d love to do it “given the right circumstances.” Those circumstances continue to be time and money. Carpenter says he’s “not the same kid anymore who will do it for any amount of money,” nor can he “back into a budget anymore.” The ravages of time, to which no one is immune, have taken their toll on Carpenter, who maintains, “I’m too old. It’s too hard.” There’s no debate there. Making movies is, in fact, too hard. Yet, this is more optimistic than Carpenter has been in the past. He says, “Directing is the love of my life. I’ll never stop loving that.”