After a hiatus of just over thirteenth years, a new reboot of Friday the 13th may be in the works, according to a scoop from the ghoul hunters at Bloody Disgusting.
Because of a legal brouhaha involving the original film’s director Sean S. Cunningham and scriptwriter Victor Miller, the Friday the 13th franchise has been frozen in the crypt all these years. It’s now being reported that Cunningham is working on a reboot with writer Jeff Locker and director Jeremy Weiss. The three men apparently came up with the idea after their collaboration on the yet-unreleased horror film The Night Driver. The original Friday the 13th debuted in 1980.
Bloody Disgusting talked to Locker and Weiss about the possible new film. Locker acknowledged the excitement around about the upcoming Crystal Lake prequel as he declared: “Obviously, the [Crystal Lake] prequel TV series has reignited interest about a new film so we’re hoping the surrounding excitement will inspire both sides to come together and give us Jason on the big screen again for the first time in 14 years, but we also have a Plan B for a sequel to the original we think fans will absolutely love and should avoid any legal entanglements.”
To this, Weiss added: “Working on The Night Driver with Sean and Jeff was such a great experience: by the time the momentum was picking up we were looking for what projects could be next in line. As a horror nerd through and through, Friday the 13th and House were naturally where I wanted to head next. Jeff not only felt the same, but had very similar ideas with where to take both franchises.
”
The Friday the 13th franchise, which has grossed $468 million worldwide, comprises twelve slasher films, a television series, novels, comic books, video games, and tie in merchandise. The central character in the franchise is Jason Voorhees, who is thought to have drowned as a boy at Camp Crystal Lake as a result of negligence by the staff.
As a result, the lake earned a reputation of being haunted, and served later as the setting for a series of mass murders.
Check out more of Edward Moran’s articles.