Over my 17 year tenure, I’ve had the distinct pleasure of interviewing the great John Carpenter on several occasions. He’s blunt, forthcoming, and would rather talk about basketball and video games than horror movies. Something else that’s constant is that he could give two shits about his films being remade, always expressing that money is his only objective. On the set of The Fog remake, he was asked about his involvement only answering, “They paid me,” which resulted in several of us doing a double-take. Yes, he’s blunt.

The Fog isn’t  the first remake, and it won’t be the last. They’re currently casting Halloween, while also developing Escape From New York.  In a fresh interview with The Guardian, he was asked how he feels about people remaking his films. His answer is fire.

“I love it, if they are going to pay me money,” Carpenter explained.

He continues: “If they pay me, it’s wonderful. If they don’t pay me, I don’t care. I think it’s unfair if they don’t pay me. I think everyone should pay me. Why not? I’m an old guy now and I need money. Send me money.”

It’s a bit snarky and obnoxious but at least he’s honest. The only thing that upsets me when he talks like this is that he’s being paraded around as a creative force behind the next Halloween. Does he actually give a fuck or is he playing nice because he knows he’s getting a fat check at the end of the day? I suspect the latter, and that’s heartbreaking. At least Carpenter will always be Carpenter and it’s hard to not love him.