Halloween is considered one of the best horror movies of all time, and the slasher franchise has never been far from theaters. The 1998 sequel Halloween: H20 usually is put high on the Halloween movie ranking, and features outstanding young talent like Josh Hartnett and Michelle Williams, alongside scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis. And Curtis finally addressed a controversial photoshoot with Williams years later, saying “you’ve got to take a big swing.”
H20 was Curtis’ first big return to the Halloween franchise, decades after she starred as Laurie Strode in the first two films. There was a ton of hype around the project as a result, and a photoshoot with she and Michelle Williams was the subject of some controversy during the time of its release. JLC recently posted on Instagram sharing her memories of this time, as well as the images of the pair. The caption reads:
Apparently, this was the day that H2O was released and not my first time leading a marketing charge but it definitely peaked my interest in marketing. As soon as I knew the movie was going to be called H2O I knew that the tagline should be BLOOD IS THICKER THAN WATER with a nod to the trope at the time that MM was my brother and when we did the cover of @entertainmentweekly I wanted to be diving into a ‘pool of blood’, which proved to be more difficult pre-digital abilities and we ended up doing a ‘blood bath’ instead.
When Entertainment Weekly was still in print, it was known for having bold, artsy images for its cover. This helped to promote film and TV projects, and there are a number of truly iconic shoots that managed to pierce the pop culture landscape. Jamie Lee Curtis and Michelle Williams posing for Halloween: H20 just happens to be one of them.
While Jamie Lee Curtis admitted that H20 was about making money, it’s still up their as one of my favorite Halloween movies, one I re-watch every October. In her same post, the Knives Out actress reflected on the controversy that her shoot with Williams inspired. In her words:
It was controversial because my beautiful friend, Michelle Williams, was an emancipated 17 year-old and it had two women, appearing to be naked together in a bathtub covered by blood. We weren’t naked and it wasn’t blood but there was a bit of a ‘viral’ moment back then. You’ve got to take a big swing once in a while and go big or go home. I love marketing and it’s the special teams of people who put together campaigns, shout out to @michaelrmoses who built the brilliant campaigns for the later @halloweenmovie trilogy! 🩸🔪
Despite this viral moment and the years that have passed, it sounds like JLC and Williams still have a strong friendship to this day. And whatever controversy surrounding the Dawson’s Creek icon and her age at the time of the EW shoot eventually quieted down.
Halloween Ends marked Jamie Lee Curtis’ final bow as Laurie Strode, although fans are still hoping she might return to the role in an upcoming horror movie. Smart money says the slasher franchise will be rebooted eventually, although there will be some big shoes to fill. In the meantime, check out the 2025 movie release dates.