Why Hasn't There Been A 13th Friday The 13th Yet?
Surely it's the easiest one to market?
Today there was supposed to be another Friday the 13th movie. There wasn't, obviously, and you really have to wonder why it's proving so hard to make.
After the 2009 reboot was such a bust that the sequel (originally planned for release on August 13th 2010) was unceremoniously canned, studio concerns over finances and a curious situation spawned by shared rights and an almighty FOMO the franchise went cold again. This is despite the fact that it had already previously survived some of the biggest crimes in horror movie history.
Producer Brad Fuller held out some hope that his 3D sequel would be made (thank God it wasn't) and eventually a fire was lit again in 2011 when it was announced that a script had been completed. Fuller was still poised to make it saying on Twitter: " Shannon and Swift wrote a great script. We are ready to go, when New Line is ready. But as of yet, they are not ready."
Thanks to Interstellar, in 2013 some of the issues of shared rights were smoothed out, and a sequel was again announced as back in production with David Bruckner in as director. After several flirtations with release dates, May 13th 2016 - today - was firmly set, and it seemed we'd finally get the sequel. After all, it was purposefully pushed back the final time in order to see release on Friday the 13th, thus picking up an easy marketing boost.
Again, it proved to be a false promise, and a Bruckner quietly exited the project in late 2015, the release was pushed back to 2017. Whether we will see anything at all then remains to be seen. I wouldn't hold your breath.
So what the hell's the hold up? Shouldn't the 13th instalment in a franchise obsessed with the importance of the number 13 be the easiest film to make and release? Considering some of the flimsy narrative conceits we've seen in this franchise in the past, it's baffling that they can't use this golden opportunity to get something out.
Even Bruckner's vision - of going back to the '80s and making a found footage horror - was better than nothing. He explained his single camera vision to Fangoria earlier this year:
So writers Richard Naing and Ian Goldberg and I set out in earnest to see if there was a movie there. There are certain restrictions to found-footage; just the fact that youre locked into a single perspective almost makes the slasher formula impossible, because characters tend to wander off on their own all the time and get knocked off. Also, part of what defines some of the greatest slashers is the additional perspective. That was a really fun obstacle to tackle, and we ended up structuring it a little bit more like a monster movie. All the mythos surrounding Jason Voorhees opened up a lot of possibilities, and for a moment in time, we had a story that took place in the 80s, which worked with the found-footage conceit. It was a return to form in a lot of ways, and we really focused on the characters.
Despite the dirty words of "found footage" he makes a good sales pitch. And then there was a second version that changed things up again; Hanniball writer Nick Antosca came in and sought a more traditional approach:
We were set free from that mandate, Bruckner recalls, and did a draft that was not found-footage. We were allowed to truly explore what the film could be as a proper 80s rebootwhat that would look like. My take on it was that I wanted to do Dazed And Confused meets Jason Voorhees , a genuine last-day-of-school coming-of-age story. Nick wrote a great draft, and we really wanted to see that movie come to life. It was a very exciting process for me.
Sadly, it wasn't meant to be. Two good ideas (the second one being great), and nothing to show for it. Now we're looking at a bleak future where the idea of a sequel or a reboot or some other mysterious third option is punted around release dates with limited progress.
Considering the fact that nostalgia is currently at its height in Hollywood, the best approach would be to go back to basics and tell a simply slasher story that tries to recapture only the elements that made the original so classic. No short-lived modern fads like social media, just something that aims squarely at the hearts of the fans who've stuck with the franchise through thick and VERY thin.
And just call it 13. That at least writes itself.
Kane Hodder meanwhile spent Friday The 13th claiming he's done with making violent films. At least, that's what he claimed...