Last year, Blumhouse Productions took the Halloween franchise, which, like many icons of the horror genre, had long since fallen from grace, and returned it to prominence. The Halloween reboot-quel was a massive success and there is a natural inclination to see other iconic horror franchises that have fallen on hard times get the same treatment. Halloween producer Ryan Turek would especially like to get his hands on Friday the 13th to remake it, as he explained:
Without question, at the top of my list would be Friday the 13th. Friday the 13th would be the franchise that I would love to work on next. Jason Blum shares that same passion. That is something that is unfortunately complicated. I mean, there's all sorts of stuff going on not [just] with the video game, but legal stuff. But, if it came our way, I mean I would be on cloud nine. It would be absolutely incredible to do. I feel a little bit smoother, because, I think there are only a few promises you'd need to make when it comes to Friday the 13th. That's, you know, you gotta deliver on a summer camp. You gotta deliver on counselors. You gotta deliver on Jason Voorhees.
After working wonders with Michael Myers, Ryan Turek would next like to help out Jason Voorhees and the Friday the 13th franchise, which has been dormant since the last attempt at a reboot in 2009. As Ryan Turek mentioned to Comicbook.com, he is not alone in this desire. Blumhouse chief Jason Blum has also expressed a desire to bring the machete wielding killer back to theater screens (among other horror classics).
Ryan Turek also seems to view Friday the 13th as a bit less complicated to remake than Halloween, and that as long as you deliver on the elements that fans expect, you're good to go. He mentioned the summer camp, so apparently no killing in space in his ideal remake, as well as the counselors and of course Jason himself.
It's unclear whether Ryan Turek and Jason Blum would envision a new Friday the 13th movie as a pure remake or something akin to what they did with Halloween, which was technically a sequel to the original 1978 Halloween and thus rebooted the subsequent films out of the canonical continuity. What is clear is that Ryan Turek seems excited to just discuss the possibility of tackling the property, as he is clearly a fan.
Unfortunately, as he noted, wanting to remake Friday the 13th and being able to do so are two different things. He mentioned the video game and the legal issues that have been preventing the franchise from returning for more hockey-masked horror. Although, last we heard, the legal case had been decided and there were talks about a Friday the 13th reboot from Vertigo Entertainment and LeBron James' SpringHill Entertainment.
Anecdotally, Friday the 13th doesn't seem to be viewed with quite the same reverence as Halloween. It seems like Friday the 13th features an iconic character but the movie itself isn't a pillar of the genre, whereas the original Halloween is a classic and spawned a horror icon. A Halloween-style refresh or remake could give Friday the 13th an opportunity to create something great from such a recognizable horror villain.
And with so many suitors itching for a chance to help Jason stalk his prey once again and money on the table in this ongoing hot period for the horror genre, you have to think that Friday the 13th will be back on theater screens sooner rather than later.
For movies that will be on theater screens this year, check out our 2019 release schedule.
