Movies
A ‘Friday the 13th’ Shocker!
Just last week it was announced that “Hannibal” scribe Nick Antosca would be penning the new Friday the 13th for director David Bruckner.
It was huge news in that fact that it’s now officially moving away from found-footage, and is being developed out of previous chatter that the next installment could take place in the 1980’s, at a working Camp Crystal Lake, and may possibly expand on Jason Voorhees’ mythology.
Now that Friday the 13th is officially working its way towards a May 13, 2016 release, all of the rumors and speculation will come to an end as Antosca starting hammering away at his keyboard. Only Paramount, Platinum Dunes and the filmmakers know what’s in store for Jason Voorhees when he’s reintroduced to the world.
Well, we did some digging, and came across a shocker…
Spoiler warning! Strap on your hockey masks if you want to know more!
When Sony Pictures announced an all-female cast for their new Ghostbusters, it created a shock wave through the studio system.
We’re being told that it’s caused a lot of lateral thinking, and that studio execs are now finding fresh ways to repurpose old franchises. One such franchise is Friday the 13th.
While there’s no screenplay yet, a treatment is making the rounds that’s allegedly being used as the basis for the new film. And what we learned is absolutely bonkers…
Jason Voorhees is going to be female.
How does this make sense? Well, if you look all the way back at Sean Cunningham’s 1980 original, you’ll remember that Jason Voorhees was not the film’s killer. In fact, it was Pamela Voorhees, Jason’s mother.
The new Friday will take a page from the Alfred Hitchcock classic, Psycho, and also reference various moments in the Friday sequels in which Jason both worships and sees his mother in various forms. Friday the 13th always took inspiration from Psycho in the fact that the twist was Pamela’s split personality, which echoed Norman Bates pretending to be his mother.
The idea here is that Jason Voorhees is not just a female, but also Pamela. So, if you look back at earlier chatter that Jason would not be in the next Friday the 13th, it’s sort of true. The iconic “look” of the hockey masked killer remains the same, while the person behind the mask is going to be Pamela. This is not to say Jason won’t make some appearance – possibly as a spirit guide (hallucination) to Pamela.
Basically, they’re both literally and figuratively flipping the script with Friday the 13th. And obviously, we’re playing an April Fool’s Day joke on you. Still, can you imagine? There are a lot of really fun things Paramount could do with the franchise and its mythology, but most fans wouldn’t approve of such changes. It’s still fun to pretend…
Movies
’28 Years Later’ – Ralph Fiennes, Jodie Comer, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson Join Long Awaited Sequel
Danny Boyle and Alex Garland (Annihilation, Men), the director and writer behind 2002’s hit horror film 28 Days Later, are reteaming for the long-awaited sequel, 28 Years Later. THR reports that the sequel has cast Jodie Comer (Alone in the Dark, “Killing Eve”), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kraven the Hunter), and Ralph Fiennes (The Menu).
The plan is for Garland to write 28 Years Later and Boyle to direct, with Garland also planning on writing at least one more sequel to the franchise – director Nia DaCosta is currently in talks to helm the second installment.
No word on plot details as of this time, or who Comer, Taylor-Johnson, and Fiennes may play.
28 Days Later received a follow up in 2007 with 28 Weeks Later, which was executive produced by Boyle and Garland but directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo. Now, the pair hope to launch a new trilogy with 28 Years Later. The plan is for Garland to write all three entries, with Boyle helming the first installment.
Boyle and Garland will also produce alongside original producer Andrew Macdonald and Peter Rice, the former head of Fox Searchlight Pictures, the division of one-time studio Twentieth Century Fox that originally backed the British-made movie and its sequel.
The original film starred Cillian Murphy “as a man who wakes up from a coma after a bicycle accident to find England now a desolate, post-apocalyptic collapse, thanks to a virus that turned its victims into raging killers. The man then navigates the landscape, meeting a survivor played by Naomie Harris and a maniacal army major, played by Christopher Eccleston.”
Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer) is on board as executive producer, though the actor isn’t set to appear in the film…yet.
Talks of a third installment in the franchise have been coming and going for the last several years now – at one point, it was going to be titled 28 Months Later – but it looks like this one is finally getting off the ground here in 2024 thanks to this casting news. Stay tuned for more updates soon!
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