The 2018-2019 NBA season has just kicked off and beyond the near-foregone conclusion that the Golden State Warriors will three-peat, one of the biggest stories is LeBron James beginning the next chapter of his career as a Los Angeles Laker. But LeBron isn't just coming to LA to play; he's going full Hollywood. LeBron James' production company is now involved in a reboot of Friday the 13th.
Vertigo Entertainment and LeBron James' SpringHill Entertainment are in talks to create a reboot of the iconic horror franchise, which dates back to 1980's Friday the 13th and has twelve installments to date, including Freddy vs. Jason. This potential reboot is in the very early stages but meetings are out to potential writers and directors for the project, according to Deadline.
This news comes in the wake of a legal decision about the rights to the horror franchise. Victor Miller, the writer of the 1980 film, regained the U.S. rights to Friday the 13th under copyright reclamation laws that allow authors to reclaim their work 35 years after selling it for a low price. With that legal battle now won, the rights issues that have been holding up another Friday the 13th are seemingly less of an impediment to the franchise continuing in the future.
Following his victory, Victor Miller took the reboot to LeBron's SpringHill Entertainment and Vertigo. SpringHill Entertainment has an existing production deal with Warner Bros. studio.
This isn't the first time a reboot has been attempted. Last year a reboot of Jason Voorhees was supposed to take place at Paramount from Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes. The studio nixed the project, after Rings failed at the box office, conflating one film's failure with a lack of viability in all horror reboots.
Obviously that mindset is no longer prevalent in Hollywood given the current success that horror in general is finding at the box office and especially horror reboots of iconic properties, as evidenced by last year's IT and the just-released Halloween. The time seems right for Friday the 13th to get a Halloween-style refresh.
The Michael Myers reboot-quel enjoyed a record opening at the box office last weekend and the best debut ever for a film in the franchise, proving that these seminal horror figures have a place in the modern movie marketplace.
The last film in the franchise was 2009's Friday the 13th, which itself was a reboot of the property, yet it failed to deliver critically and didn't break $100 million in its entire worldwide run. But we're ten years later now, which seems to be the rough time period before many reboots, and being the 13th entry in the franchise has got to be a good sign that this potential reboot will bring Jason back to prominence and let him make his mark in this new horror age.
This isn't the only reboot of a name property that LeBron James is involved in. The all-star and SpringHill Entertainment are also involved in a remake of House Party as well as the long-awaited Space Jam 2. Whether LeBron James can also reboot the Lakers back to relevancy remains to be seen.
Stay tuned to CinemaBlend and we'll keep you updated about this potential return to Camp Crystal Lake. Check out our release schedule for all the biggest movies still to come in 2018.
