Friday the 13th and World War Z sequel pulled from Paramount’s schedule

Last Updated on July 21, 2021

Here. We. Go. Again.

I’ll get right to it: Paramount Pictures has pulled the untitled WORLD WAR Z sequel and the FRIDAY THE 13th reboot from their 2017 release schedule. The former was a no-brainer: That film has held a June 9 date for a while now, but it doesn’t even have a director, script, cast, etc., so I don’t think anyone was expecting it to miraculously arrive at that time. (Universal’s THE MUMMY comes out that day anyway, which would make for an unlikely big-budget horror movie face-off.)

FRIDAY THE 13th, though. That one is somewhat surprising. While it has seen multiple delays in the last few years, one had reason to believe it was finally moving forward in earnest. A director is locked in the form of Breck Eisner, who will be working off a script by Aaron Guzikowski (PRISONERS). Shooting was tentatively scheduled to kick off this Spring in Atlanta, with rumors abound that the production was looking for actors to play Young Jason and Elias Voorhees. Yes, the scheduled October 13 date would be a tight squeeze, but it was just so ideal. (A Friday the 13th movie released during the Halloween season would be sublime.) They could have made it work if they really got with the program.

(Deadline.com thinks the poor opening weekend of Paramount’s bungled reboot RINGS has something to do with this, but I’m not buying it.)

Alas, it’s not happening, and we’ll have to wait at least another year for a new Jason adventure. Two Friday the 13ths fall in 2018, in April and July. Perhaps one of those is where Eisner’s film will end up? Guess we’ll have to wait (and wait, and wait) to find out.