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Friday the 13th Co-Creator Has Next Film Planned, But How Close Is It to Happening?
Friday the 13th co-creator Sean Cunningham has the next film planned, but when it will happen remains to be seen. Cunningham is the man who directed the first Friday the 13th movie from 1980, which was written by Victor Miller. However, after co-creating one of the best slasher franchises of all time, he only returned for Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993), Jason X (2002), Freddy vs. Jason (2003), and the Friday the 13th reboot in 2009, but only as a producer in those movies. However, it has been 17 years since that last movie came out, and the franchise has been dormant since then.
Sean Cunningham spoke to TMZ about the franchise and said that he has plans for the next movie in the franchise. According to Cunningham, he has a film treatment for an “old school” Jason movie. Not only that, but he also said that he and co-creator Victor Miller have resolved their issues. However, he has some even better news. He reminded fans that two companies have the rights to Friday the 13th, which has held back any sequels, but that is going to be fixed thanks to Hollywood’s newest blockbuster deal.
When Could the New Friday the 13th Movie Arrive?
The rights to Friday the 13th are split between two production companies. Both Warner Bros. and Paramount hold rights to the franchise, and that has been a hurdle since no one can make a new movie in the franchise without both studios signing off on it. With Paramount buying Warner Bros., this eliminates that major hurdle. However, this also means the movie won’t be coming anytime soon.
The film has to get a green light, or at least go into active development, and that requires both studios to cut a deal for it to happen. A film treatment is just an idea of what will happen in the next movie. That said, it is not a script, and Cunningham said the next step would be to hire a “young” screenwriter to work on the screenplay since it needs to be the “fear of untimely death.” Cunningham is 84, so he said that he can no longer relate to that.
Since the Warner Bros. deal with Paramount has to pass some hurdles with the U.S. regulators before they do anything. The studio then has a lot of restructuring to do as it brings everything together into one company. This means that even if there is a new Friday the 13th movie coming, it wouldn’t be until likely 2028. However, right now, it is only Sean Cunningham talking, and there is no other word from anyone inside the studios.
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