There will be more purging in 2018 as the fourth instalment of "The Purge" is slated to premiere on July 4, 2018. Despite what looked like the end of the franchise in "The Purge: Election Year", Universal, Blumhouse, and Platinum Dunes are already developing the next instalment in the series.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, franchise creator James DeMonaco will be coming back to write the script and work closely with producers for the still untitled fourth "Purge" movie, but he will not be directing. Other names who have been reported to join as producers are Jason Blum (Blumhouse Productions) Brad Fuller, Michael Bay, Andrew Form (all with Platinum Dunes), and Sebastien K. Lemercier, the long-time production partner DeMonaco.

In 2016 interview with CinemaBlend, DeMonaco stated that he wanted the last "Purge" instalment to be a prequel. The prequel will explain how the United States came to conclude that having a 12-hour period where every form of criminal activity was legal was a logical idea.

"That seems like natural next chapter in this. How did this country get to a place where we were now accepting this kind of atrocity, this terrible thing, each year? I think there's something interesting in that", DeMonaco said in the interview.

The "Purge" series is set in a near-dystopian future wherein once a year America has a 12-hour period where crime - including murder - is perfectly legal. The first movie was released in 2013 starring Ethan Hawke, and managed to make $64.4 million in the global box office on a budget of $3 million, making it a financial success. It was then followed by 2014's "The Purge: Anarchy" which critics viewed as an improvement over the first film and made $111.9 million on a $9 million budget.

Last year's instalment titled "The Purge: Election Year", had expanded the franchise's story into a battle for the political future of America. It starred Frank Grillo and made $80 million on a budget of $10 million.