Jamie Lee/CinemaCon
Actor Jamie Lee Curtis is pictured speaking onstage at CinemaCon on April 25, 2018 in Las Vegas. Ethan Miller/Getty Images for CinemaCon

Las Vegas -- Jamie Lee Curtis released the first footage for her upcoming “Halloween” sequel in Las Vegas on Wednesday as part of Universal Pictures’ CinemaCon presentation.

“We have been waiting a long time,” Curtis told the crowd of rebooting her iconic horror character Laurie Strode’s story. The film, debuting in theaters in October, will pick up 40 years after the first movie and give the heroine a “final chance to confront her lifelong nemesis,” according to Curtis.

The movie will follow Laurie as a mother and grandmother to actress Judy Greer’s Karen and Andi Matichak’s Allyson, respectively, who will stop at nothing to protect her family following killer Michael Meyer’s (Nick Castle) escape from prison.

“I first played Laurie when I was 19 years old,” Curtis reminisced to CinemaCon attendees. “We had no money when we made ‘Halloween.’” The actress revealed the budget for the original was so small the villain had to wear a William Shatner mask. Despite its small means, “Halloween” went on to become a “fixture” in the horror genre.

“Now, as a 59-year-old woman, I heard they what they were thinking and I immediately said, ‘yes’,” Curtis said.

As noted by Curtis, outside of the “Star Wars” franchise, it’s rare to see the same actor portray the same character decades later, a feat which “Halloween” has achieved. “That in and of itself is worth celebrating,” Curtis said.

Just as the first “Halloween” films delivered, horror fans can expect equal scares from the 2018 incarnation when the David Gordon Green-directed movie releases in the fall. “They wrote a script that earned its place,” Curtis gushed, going on to warn audiences the new film is “hella scary.”

“Its old school meets new school,” she continued. “It’s going to scare the living [expletive] out of you.”

The trailer previewed for audiences Wednesday revealed the film will follow a documentary crew as they work on a project about Meyer’s 1978 killings. When Michael escapes from prison after a bus crash, Jamie’s character is warned and authorities are shocking to learn her response.

“I prayed every night that he would escape,” she tells police. When the authorities question why Laurie would want him in society, she responds, “So that I can kill him.”

The trailer continues with a scene showing Michael, donning his famous mask, attacking a woman in a public restroom.

“You don’t believe in the boogie man?” Laurie asks one of the documentarians. “You should.”