Movies
‘Friday the 13th’: David Bruckner’s Vision Was to Make an 80’s Coming-of-Age Monster Movie!
After the success of V/H/S, David Bruckner went on to develop a new Friday the 13th for both Paramount Pictures and Platinum Dunes.
Originally set to be a found-footage remake of the 1980 classic, a second attack at the script was to take a more traditional approach.
Unfortunately, back in December a new writer was brought on to take yet another crack at Jason Voorhees, which ousted Bruckner from the project.
While in development, Bruckner filmed a segment in our upcoming Southbound, in theaters February 5th and VOD February 9th, and is doing a press tour.
One of his first stops was with Fangoria, who got some inside info on both Friday the 13ths that could have been.
“When I came on board that project,” he tells the site, “Paramount was exploring whether or not they could do a found-footage FRIDAY, and they brought me in to crack it. I had some very specific ideas; if we were going to do that, I felt it needed to be single-camera. I didn’t think you could bring a whole bunch of media into the room, and that we had to do a kind of classic found-footage movie.
“So writers Richard Naing and Ian Goldberg and I set out in earnest to see if there was a movie there,” Bruckner continues. “There are certain restrictions to found-footage; just the fact that you’re 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.”
Things changed when “Hannibal’s” Nick Antosca was brought in as scripter and took 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 reboot—what that would look like. My take on it was that I wanted to do DAZED AND CONFUSED meets Jason Voorhees [laughs], 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.”
Aaron Guzikowski is currently penning Friday the 13th. He is the writer behind Prisoners, which was one of the hottest screenplays in Hollywood. He is also writing the remake of Universal’s The Wolf Man.
Paramount recently shifted the release date to January 13, 2017 in order to allow more time for development, being that they’re starting from scratch.
What do you think about the direction Bruckner was taking the franchise? Would you have wanted to see a found-footage version of Friday? Or how about a coming-of-age 80’s movie with Jason Voorhees?
Movies
‘Backrooms’ Director Kane Parsons Is No Fan of Generative AI: “Defeats the Purpose Entirely for Me”
There has been a lot of talk recently about filmmakers embracing generative AI as part of the filmmaking process, from Darren Aronofsky to Martin Scorsese. But what about filmmakers that are against the use of Gen AI for creative pursuits? You can count 20-year-old Backrooms director Kane Parsons among that group, which should give you some hope for the future.
In a new chat with The Australian, the self-taught young filmmaker makes it crystal clear that he won’t be using generative AI in any of his upcoming filmmaking projects.
“I think I’m in the same boat as most well-adjusted people,” Parsons tells the outlet. “If I could snap my fingers and make generative AI disappear forever, I probably would. Creatively, I get no enjoyment from using those tools. It defeats the purpose entirely for me.”
“What interests me more is interrogating it artistically,” Parsons notes. “We already live in a world where you walk outside and there are billboards and signs that are obvious AI slop. That’s become part of our visual reality. To me, generative AI feels less like innovation than a symptom of a broader cultural and economic rot.”
He explains, “I’m interested in using that iconography in art – not using AI to make the art itself, but examining what it represents. I definitely want to explore it further in future projects.”
Kane Parsons also notes during the interview with The Australian, “… there’s so much at stake and so many genuinely harmful consequences already happening.”
Backrooms marks young prodigy Kane Parsons’ feature directorial debut, and it’s based on his own series of YouTube videos that were brought to life using Blender, the open-source 3D computer graphics software suite. So it’s no surprise that Parsons, who has hand-made his filmmaking career up to this point, isn’t buying into the hoopla around Generative AI.
His debut feature is the #1 movie in the world, so perhaps he’s onto something.
What’s next from Kane Parsons, you ask? Stay tuned…
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