The lastFriday the 13thmovie was in 2009, a remake starring Jared Padalecki and Danielle Panabaker. TheFriday the 13thproducer Roy Lee recently said on theBloody Disgustingpodcast “The Boo Crew Podcast” that a new film could happen. Lee said, “That one is something that I would love to talk about. You may be hearing something by year’s end… on that front."
While there’s definitely an audience for a new film in the popular franchise, what could the movie be about, and does theFriday the 13thfranchise need one more movie?
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There have been 12 movies in theFriday the 13thslasher franchise, starting with the original in 1980, a sequel in 1981, and several more films every few years. The franchise delved into different territory withJason Xin 2002, which tells the story of Jason Voorhees through a science-fiction lens. Thehorror movie is set in the futureand stands out from the rest of the films. In 2003,Freddy vs Jasondelighted some fans and was disappointing to others since it can be said that it’s incredibly cheesy (but that’s part of its entertainment value).
It’s been a long time since the2009Friday the 13thremake, so it makes sense that there could be a new film in the franchise, as it’s been over a decade. But theFriday the 13thfranchise is missing a final girlwho appeals in all of the movies, ties them together, and makes audiences care about her. Fans come back to Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) because they are powerful, resilient, and they feel real as they have been through some emotional situations. Alice Hardy (Adrienne King) dies at the start of the sequel so she doesn’t have a long journey that fans can go on with her. This is too bad as there should be a character who endures.
The 2009 remake wasn’t popular, earning a 25% rating on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer and a 46% Audience Score.Freddy vs Jasonwas a hit, grossing $116,632,628 worldwide, which suggests that horror fans loved seeing Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger come together. But it’s hard to think of the plotlines of the many sequels that followed the original 1980 film.
There are manyscary horror movie summer campsand Camp Crystal Lake succeeds as an effective setting, but after so many movies, is there anything left to talk about?Jason Voorhees keeps surviving, but believing that he is really still out there and ready to attack more characters feels less terrifying and more like it has been done so many times. The 2009 remake lost some of the magic of the original film, and fans are definitely happy to keep returning to the 1980 film when they want to visit Camp Crystal Lake.
In 2020, Stephen King shared that he had an idea for anotherFriday the 13thstory. King thought of a book calledI Jasonthat would tell the tale through Jason Voorhees’s perspective. King said, “Just thinking about the legal thicket one would have to go through to get permissions makes my head ache. And my heart, that too. But gosh, shouldn’t someone tell Jason’s side of the story? Blumhouse could do it as a movie,” according toIndieWire. This is a fascinating idea as it’s different from the rest of the movies and also from slasher films in general. Jason is a great villain who has endured and fans are curious about him, so this would work, and it would add something special.
Jason Voorhees and his hockey masksare an iconic part of the horror genre, but it feels like every potential storyline has been done, and there might not be that much more that needs to be said. While the first movie about counselors at Camp Crystal Lake is beloved, each new sequel becomes a bit less interesting.Friday the 13th Part IIIfrom 1982 sees Jason targeting a new group of characters, and in 1984’sFriday the 13th: The Final Chapter, the same thing essentially happens. Each movie continues the story, but the storylines aren’t very memorable, and nothing has the same power that the original film does.
In 2021, Victor Miller was once again granted the domestic rights to the franchise, according toThe Hollywood Reporter, so it does seem like there could be another film happening soon. There are still manyFriday the 13thfans who are excited to hear that maybe there will be a new movie, and it will be interesting to see what the storyline would be. Once thing is for sure: Jason Voorhees is definitely a villain who can’t be stopped.
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