The last update we had on Platinum Dunes’ long talked about FRIDAY THE 13TH was that they were still working on a script. Yes, STILL working on a script. Is it really that hard to come up with a story for these movies? The franchise has only ever had one formula: Machetes & boobs. Like, that’s it. Keep it simple, stupid. With its initial November 13, 2015 release date pushed to May 13, 2016, we still have quite a while before we see the machete-wielding mammoth on the big screen again. So, why the delay? Besides the obvious one (they have no script), apparently PARANORMAL ACTIVITY played a huge role in FRIDAY THE 13TH’s release plans. Awesome.
Producer Brad Fuller recently had a chat with Esquire, spilling some details not only on the delay, but what we might expect from the new film. While the 2009 reboot found success at the box office, there came a new low-budget trend in horror thanks to PARANORMAL ACTIVITY that pulled in a ton of money despite its shoe-string budget, causing studios to rethink the way they approach the genre. Because of this, the new FRIDAY THE 13TH was put on hold.
Long story short, after figuring out how to make successful movies with smaller budgets (INSIDIOUS, SINISTER, THE PURGE, OUIJA), Fuller is now ready to get this shit rolling with a budget sweet spot of anywhere between THE PURGE’s three-to-four million and the 2009 reboot's $20 million. Their aim is to start production at the tail end of summer so that they can properly take over a camp and let Jason run around slaughtering anything with nipples.
So that leaves us with the actual story. What is this movie going to be about? While Fuller kept quiet on that front, he did offer some details on an idea they’re toying with. Why doesn’t Jason die?
“There’s always been this supernatural aspect to these movies. It defies logic that, you see Jason get killed in every movie, including ours, the 2009 one. And then he comes back and no one’s ever really investigated what that is. So that’s something that I think about a little bit. Like it is supernatural, but what is he? Those are the things that we’re toying with. Nothing has been decided. But those type of things: How does he always come back?”
THE SIGNAL and V/H/S director David Bruckner is still on board to direct, who apparently gave Fuller the idea to explore Jason’s unquestioned ability to die and reanimate in each film. “People traditionally want to understand exactly how and why things happen, and yet something so odd happens at the end of these movies and no one seems to question it. So people come to the movie with the expectation that the real villain will be killed and come back. And yet we never toyed with that notion.”
It’s certainly an intriguing angle to the franchise, but is it one we really need to know? Part of the fun in a FRIDAY THE 13TH film is that they don’t spend much time (if any) digging up the layers of why and how Jason keeps coming back from the dead. I will say this, though, I like that they’re exploring new ideas and hopefully this way of thinking will push them into making a FRIDAY THE 13TH that feels both new and old.