Fourteen months ago, it was announced that a new entry in the Jeepers Creepers franchise, a film called Jeepers Creepers: Reborn, had been filmed in secret – without the involvement of the franchise’s creator, Victor Salva – and was aiming for a fall 2021 release. Fall 2021 came and went without Jeepers Creepers: Reborn being released. A teaser trailer, embedded above, promised a 2022 release… but we still haven’t heard anything about this movie getting a release date. YouTuber Critical Overlord may have figured out why. According to documents that are available on the website UniCourt.com, it appears that Jeepers Creepers: Reborn is caught up in a property fraud lawsuit.
Filed almost immediately after the existence of Jeepers Creepers: Reborn was officially announced, this lawsuit is between Myriad Pictures, Inc. and Infinity Films Holdings, LLC, with a whole bunch of plaintiffs and defendants listed. It involves
the alleged breach of a right of first negotiation and last refusal for worldwide distribution rights to subsequent productions of the horror movie franchise, Jeepers Creepers.
Cross-Defendant Myriad Pictures, Inc. (“Cross-Defendant” or “Plaintiff”) alleges in the Complaint having a contractual right of first negotiation and last refusal for worldwide distribution rights to subsequent productions. Cross-Defendant further alleges that defendants produced and filmed Jeepers Creepers IV without Cross-Defendant’s knowledge or involvement, even though Cross-Defendant had been working with defendants to develop the sequels throughout 2018 and 2019.
Once the film was shot, defendants purported to extend to Cross-Defendant a right of “last negotiation” which was illusory because defendants had already granted distribution rights to Cross-Defendant’s competitor Screen Media.
It could be that Jeepers Creepers: Reborn can’t be released until there’s some kind of ruling or settlement in this lawsuit. If that’s the case and this lawsuit will need to play out to completion before we see the movie, we might be waiting quite a while. The jury trial isn’t scheduled to begin until January of 2024.
Jeepers Creepers: Reborn was directed by Timo Vuorensola from a screenplay by Sean Michael Argo and Jake Seal. It has the following synopsis:
Chase and Laine head to the HorrorHound festival where Laine begins to experience unexplained premonitions and disturbing visions associated with The Creeper and the town’s past. As the festival gets underway and the blood-soaked entertainment builds to a frenzy, Laine believes that something unearthly has been summoned for the first time in 23 years and that she is at the center of it.
Sydney Craven, Imran Adams, Ocean Navarro, Matt Barkley, Alexander Halsall, Jodie McMullen, Georgia Goodman, and Jarreau Benjamin star.
The reimagining was produced by Jake Seal of Orwo Studios & Black Hangar Studios, along with Michael Ohoven of Infinity Films. Screen Media’s Seth Needle serves as executive producer, while Screen Media’s Creative Executive Conor McAdam is associate producer. Other executive producers are Jamie R. Thompson, Terry Bird, David Nagelberg. Danny Zamost, Michael Musante, Lee Broda, Matthew Kurtain, Karey Kurtain, Alastair Burlingham, Gary Raskin, Elizabeth Primm, Suraj Gohil, Mark Mariani, Janelle Mariani, Galen Rasmussen, and Shannon Chandler.
We’ll let you know if we hear anything more about this lawsuit or the possibility of Jeepers Creepers: Reborn being released any time soon. In the meantime, let us know whether or not you’re interested in this movie by leaving a comment below.