New Friday the 13th Movie: Series Creator Teases Film for 2023
Unlike many of its counterparts in the horror genre, Friday the 13th hasn't been able to enjoy on the renewed appreciation for slasher franchise revivals. Stuck in legal limbo due to the lawsuit brought on by screenwriter Victor Miller, the rights to the franchise have been stuck at an impasse; but series producer Sean S. Cunningham may have just revealed that the series might finally have a new entry. As noticed by Bloody Disgusting, the filmmaker's official Cameo account has been updated to read: "Sean S. Cunningham directed and produced the seminal horror film Friday the 13th, creating the iconic villain Jason Voorhees. The movie has spawned 12 installments with a 13th scheduled for next year."
It previously seemed unlikely for another Friday the 13th movie to be produced because of how the lawsuit concluded. Central to all of it was that Miller, who penned the script for the original movie in 1980, won back the rights to the screenplay thanks to a specific piece of copyright law. The big question the lingered after this however was regarding franchise killer Jason Voorhees. Despite having a small role in Miller's script, the version that is best known to the masses, a hockey mask-wearing zombie murderer, didn't appear until later films.
This leaves the question up in the air, who owns the adult Jason Voorhees? Who can use the hockey mask? Did the introduction of Voorhees as a child in Miller's script leave him the option to make him an adult in his own sequels, should he choose? If any of this has been worked out it hasn't been confirmed publicly, but based on Cunningham's tease it seems like a deal may have been reached. Cunningham previously said he pegged the odds of it happening as "50-50."
In the time since Friday the 13th has been dormant, fellow slasher franchises Halloween, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Scream, Candyman, and more have continued to thrive in theaters, on streaming, and as a television shows. The biggest surprise of it all is that with the impending release of Halloween Ends, the slasher franchise that Friday the 13th largely ripped off, will arrive at its 13th feature film while Jason remains stuck in stasis at twelve movies. Friday the 13th's final movie was the 2009 remake of the franchise, though sequels were planned for the feature none ever materialized.
