Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. may have innumerable repercussions, but there’s at least one silver lining for horror fans: it could help bring Friday the 13th back.
With franchise co-creators Sean S. Cunningham and Victor Miller having resolved their legal issues after years of court battles, Cunningham tells TMZ he hopes a new Friday the 13th movie will gain traction in the wake of the studio merger, as the rights being divided between them has been a major hurdle.
After Paramount released the first eight Friday the 13th movies throughout the 1980s, New Line scooped up the rights to Jason and produced the next three installments before being acquired by Warner Bros.
New Line and Paramount teamed up for the 2009 reboot, with Warner Bros. handling the domestic release and Paramount overseeing international distribution.
Cunningham confirms that a film treatment for an “old school” Jason movie is done.
He says the script needs a “young writer,” because the heart of the series has always been “the fear of untimely death” — and he’s too old to be worried about that these days.
Cunningham mentions he’s just a “cheerleader” for the project, but he anticipates being an executive producer if it comes to fruition.
While we continue to wait for Jason’s feature return, Peacock is bringing Friday the 13th to the small screen with the prequel series “Crystal Lake” later this year.
