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CHICAGO — Rob Zombie has made a name for himself outside of music by writing and directing four horror films, including two “Halloween” movies, but now the 44-year-old heavy-metal legend feels it’s time to make a name for himself outside of the horror genre.
Zombie doesn’t know what his “coming out” project will be. He’s busy touring, his fourth solo studio album, “Hellbilly Deluxe 2,” comes out Feb. 2, and he recently switched to Roadrunner Records after 18 years with Geffen. But he knows he doesn’t want his next movie to be a horror flick.
“If you go down that road too far, it’s hard to break out of it,” said Zombie last week. “I don’t want to get stuck with anything. I want the freedom to do what I want to do.”
Zombie, whose real name is Robert Cummings, was attached to 2008’s “Punisher: War Zone” until he realized he wasn’t interested in directing the action film. He hopes his next film will be another action flick, “Tyrannosaurus Rex,” which is about a washed-up boxer who gets into the world of underground fighting after he’s released from prison.
There has also been talk of Zombie remaking “The Blob.” The film, which has yet to get the green light, would mark Zombie’s second time remaking a horror monster. His 2007 “Halloween” remake grossed $80 million worldwide at the box office, but the film was met with backlash from fans who didn’t want to see the John Carpenter movie remade.
What did Zombie think of the criticism?
He couldn’t care less, he said, laughing.
Although there could be more “Halloween” movies, Zombie said he doesn’t expect to be part of them.
“I have no interest in it at all,” Zombie said. “I made the second one because any John Carpenter-ness had been taken away by the end of the first movie, so it was ‘OK, this could be 100 percent my own thing.’ After that, me and the actors involved were like ‘Enough is enough.’”
For somebody who puts on a sweaty, high-energy metal show, Zombie is surprisingly laid back. He said he wasn’t always that way.
When he first stepped into the limelight, he felt like everything was “the end of the world.”
But now, 17 years after making his major label debut with his former band, White Zombie, he feels he is calmer and more carefree.
“I’m more relaxed about stuff,” said Zombie, who made eye contact once in the 10-minute interview. “You’ve been there and done that, so it’s not your first time. Every time I make a movie, I’m more relaxed about it. It doesn’t mean it’s easier, but you know it’ll get done somehow.”
