Much like the spotlighted villain at the center of its movies, the Friday the 13th franchise is once again coming back from the dead. Paramount Pictures has announced that they will be releasing a brand new title from the long-running horror series on March 13, 2015.
But what exactly is this movie? Is it a sequel to the Marcus Nispel-directed reboot from back in 2009? Is it the continuation of the franchise that seemingly ended in 2003 with Freddy vs. Jason? The answer is none of the above. According to the reliable Exhibitor Relations Twitter account, the new film will be yet another reboot. What makes it interesting, however, is that the movie will be the thirteenth theatrically released movie in the series.
While the synchronicity of the numbers may get you excited and thinking that the studio is going to try really hard with this one, let's not forget the most recent history of the Friday The 13th franchise. Jason X, Freddy vs. Jason and Nispel's Friday The 13th reboot - the only three movies in the series to be released since the turn of the century - were all completely torn apart by critics. Is there really any reason to believe that this new one will be any better?
Adding an extra layer to this project's backstory is the weird way in which Paramount actually got the rights to make the movie. Back in June, the studio made a deal with Warner Bros., who wanted to negotiate for a piece of Christopher Nolan's upcoming sci-fi epic Interstellar. In exchange, Warner Bros. signed over their rights to co-finance another Friday the 13th movie and its role in producing a new South Park film. The catch with the deal was that it would expire in five years, but by having a new Jason Voorhees slashfest in theaters in 2015 Paramount is taking full advantage. But does this mean that we could soon see another South Park film too?
While March 13, 2015 is an ideal date because it is one of only three Friday the 13th options on the 2015 calendar (the other two being in February and November), the release date also gives the newly announced project some heavy competition. Also set to open that same weekend will be both Kenneth Branagh's live-action fairy tale Cinderella and Ron Howard's survival thriller In The Heart of the Sea. There isn't a ton of crossover in terms of demographics, but three big titles in one weekend will stretch the movie-going audience thin.
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