Rumour has it we may be getting a Friday the 13th film in the near future. As reported by Bloody Disgusting, the hosts of Boo Crew asked producer Roy Lee about a future film of the Friday the 13th franchise. Lee’s response to the hosts was, “You may be hearing something by year’s end… on that front.” The producer was pretty tight-lipped with his response and didn’t leave much to the imagination.
Lee has produced several popular horror/slasher films, including The Ring, IT (2017), and The Strangers.
It’s been thirteen years since we’ve seen Jason Voorhees wreak havoc at Camp Crystal lake or have read the movie title Friday the 13th. The last film involving the iconic killer was in 2009, in an attempt to reboot the franchise.
Over the last decade, there was a legal battle between original screenwriter Victor Miller and director Sean Cunningham. In 2018, the decision was final, and the judge deemed that Miller was the owner of the original screenplay of Friday the 13th. Since that day, Cunningham has tried to reverse this decision, claiming that Miller wrote the screenplay as a “work-for-hire”. So the right to the screenplay should be illegitimate.
Although Miller now owns the right to the screenplay, that does not necessarily mean he has the right to release another film. Or at least release a film based on Jason Voorhees. The adult Jason at that. Especially the hockey mask-wearing Jason. He may not even be able to use the title Friday the 13th, as he also does not own the rights to that.
Per Bloody Disgusting, Miller may only be able to use “elements” from the original film and nothing later than that. However, the film could be based on Jason’s mother, Mrs.Voorhees, or Jason as a child.
So, we may not see our favourite oversized hacker right now. The franchise is still up in the air, with the original screenwriter and director at each other’s throats. Until Miller and Cunningham reconcile, we may only get a taste of our machete-wielding menace.
Edited by: Chanelle Jassim