Any Jason Voorhees fans excited about the prospect of a return to Camp Crystal Lake will be disappointed to hear that Paramount Pictures has pulled the plug on the long-gestating next instalment of the Friday the 13th series, which the studio has been trying in vain to get off the ground for several years.
According to Variety, the studio has pulled Friday the 13th from its planned October 13th release date, filling it instead with the Jennifer Lawrence / Darren Aronofsky film mother!. Production had been expected to begin this Spring, with Breck Eisner (The Last Witch Hunter) directing from a script by Prisoners scribe Aaron Guzikowski. It’s said that a number of factors played into the decision, including the $21 million budget, the disappointing opening weekend for horror sequel Rings, and the fact that the rights to the franchise will shortly revert back to New Line Cinema.
Meanwhile, Paramount has also pushed back the sequel to World War Z, which will come as little surprise given that the script is yet to be completed, and it had been scheduled to open this June. Instead, the studio is looking to release the film in either 2018 or 2019.
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Originally published February 7, 2017. Updated April 15, 2018.
