The Purge 5 Release Date, Cast, Plot And Director

The last night the country has permission to lose its collective mind could be upon us. 

Universal Pictures may not have had much luck with its Dark Universe franchise, but the studio has been doing just fine thanks to the Purge film series. Created in 2013 by James DeMonaco, the franchise takes place in a near-future America that celebrates the Purge, an annual 12-hour "holiday" in which all crime (even murder) is legal. The original film starring Ethan Hawke and Lena Headey may not have done that well with critics, but it still managed to come in at the top of its opening weekend box office, and it garnered a Saturn Award nomination for Best Horror Film before launching a franchise that's well on its way toward becoming the next Saw. The series is also a mainstay at Universal Studios' Halloween Horror Nights – and if that isn't peak horror success, we're not sure what is. Most recently, the fourth franchise entry, entitled The First Purge, was released in 2018, and has since gone on to be the franchise's highest-grossing movie. 

In 2020, we'll get the fifth Purge film, which could possibly close out the entire movie franchise. (Don't worry, you'll still be able to follow along with the annual mayhem via its spin-off TV series, the second season of which is set to air October 15.) The flick is still early in its development, but here's everything we know so far about The Purge 5.

One definite bit of information we have regarding The Purge 5 is its release date: Variety has confirmed the film will hit theaters on July 10, 2020. It'll be going up against Jason Reitman's Ghostbusters reboot — which is either really good news or really bad news, depending on how you feel about ectoplasm. 

Franchise creator James DeMonaco took a break from the director's chair with 2018's The First Purge. DeMonaco had helmed the three prior films, and while he would remain on as the fourth installment's writer, it was time to give someone new a shot behind the camera. That someone new was Gerard McMurray, and the change-up paid off big for Universal and Blumhouse Productions when The First Purge made a huge splash at the box office. For The Purge 5, DeMonaco will once again pen the script, but, as with The First Purge, he'll be forgoing the director's chair. In his place is Everado Gout, who's best known for his work on Luke Cage and Banshee.

Universal and Blumhouse may have been comfortable swapping directors for The Purge 5, but they weren't about to make any major changes to the franchise's standard release window. The Purge 5's July 2020 debut date aligns perfectly with those of its predecessors: The Purge arrived in June 2013, The Purge: Anarchy came in July 2014, The Purge: Election Year dropped in July 2016, and The First Purge hit theaters in July 2018.

Something that sets The Purge apart from other franchises is that no film within it is like the others. Aside from the general plot thread of the annual Purge event, the exact story and its characters are ever-changing. Only one character has appeared in more than one franchise film: Frank Grillo's Leo Barnes, who was in both 2014's The Purge: Anarchy and 2016's The Purge: Election Year.

Should The Purge 5 continue the story that ended with Election Year (remember that The First Purge was actually a prequel to the original film), there's a chance that Grillo will reprise his role as the new Director of the Secret Service. And if that's the case, we could also see Elizabeth Mitchell on screen again. She played U.S. Senator Charlie Roan, who is, at present point, the President of the United States.

Fans may also see characters from the Purge television series crossover into The Purge 5. In 2018, producer Jason Blum told The Hollywood Reporter that there might someday be a chance for the movie and TV worlds of The Purge to connect. If that's the case, we could possibly see some of the show's stars appear on the  big screen.

Currently, plot details on The Purge 5 are scarce. If we're to believe James DeMonaco, this will be the last film in the series. If we're to believe Hollywood horror franchise trends, that simply won't be true. Still, DeMonaco revealed to Entertainment Weekly in October 2018 he already knew what he wanted to do with the next Purge film: "I have it in my head. I think I'm going to write it. I think it's a great way to end it all. We want to end it all, I think, in this one, and I'm very excited. When I came up with the idea and pitched it to everybody, they seemed psyched, and I think it will be a really cool ending, how we take this one home." 

As Jason Blum explained to The Hollywood Reporter, the main theme of every Purge film has to do with America's "perverted relationship to firearms." According to the producer, the franchise is a cautionary tale of sorts, so if there's one thing we can be sure about The Purge 5, it's that it'll be related to how Americans deal with gun violence, in some form or another. 

Since we don't yet have plot details for The Purge 5, it's impossible to say when exactly it will take place. 

Prior to The First Purge, the films ran in chronological order — with The Purge taking place on a smaller scale than the subsequent films, following a single family trying to survive the night in their own home. The Purge: Anarchy opened the story up to an entire city, featuring several groups who crossed paths, while The Purge: Election Year focused on the politics behind the annual event. The First Purge was a prequel to the original film and set up how the entire tradition began: a test for the Purge on a city-wide scale. 

If The Purge 5 is a sequel to the first three films, it will likely take place a short time into President Charlie Roan's term. On the other hand, if it takes place after The First Purge, we could see more of how the Purge became big business, and how it further served to divide the classes.

The Purge 5 isn't set to hit theaters until summer 2020, so expect that we won't be getting any trailers for the film at least until the beginning of the year. Prior to The First Purge's release in July 2018, Universal hadn't dropped the first trailer for the film until a few months before — in April of that year. 

This doesn't mean that we can't expect some updates for the movie in the coming months, however. Rolling into Halloween season, Universal doesn't have any new horrors on the bench for 2019, so it's pretty safe to assume that the studio will want to start the marketing push for its 2020 releases. That means plot details, casting updates, and more for The Purge 5.

Until then, take solace in the fact that The Purge TV series will be back for its second season beginning October 15. Just try not to get too attached to the characters — who knows how far they'll make it?