After several years stuck in development hell, Paramount Pictures and Platinum Dunes came close to finally getting another chapter of the Friday the 13th saga into production early in 2017, only for the studio to pull the plug on the project a couple of months before filming.
During an interview with Syfy Wire, Brad Fuller of Platinum Dunes has explained why Paramount made the decision to shut down the film, which would have been directed by Breck Eisner (The Last Witch Hunter) directing from a script by Prisoners scribe Aaron Guzikowski.
“I think there was concern about the rights looming at that point,” said Fuller. “Paramount was concerned if they made that movie and the rights were not available… if you are going to make that movie, you want to be able to ride it for more than one or two movies.That didn’t exist in this rights structure. We were going down the road to make the movie, but, at the end of the day, economically and/or creatively, they didn’t want to make it.”
SEE ALSO: Platinum Dunes still hoping to produce a new Friday the 13th movie
“There’s this clause in the rights that the rights revert back to New Line,” Fuller continued. “As that date became closer and closer, Paramount would have made one Friday the 13th movie and then New Line would have benefited if the movie was great. Then, New Line could have followed it up with subsequent movies. It put Paramount in a very tough position to go ahead and actually make the movie, and then us to reap the benefits if it was successful beyond that particular film.”
Fuller also went on to explain that the poor performance of the horror reboot Rings also played some small part, stating: “That was also a time when sequels were not doing as well. We’re all kind of reactionary when you are making something. You are looking for evidence that tells you that what you are making is right on the cutting edge of where society is going, and you certainly don’t want to make something that feels like the timing is wrong. I wouldn’t say the whole thing fell apart because of [Rings]. I certainly think that played into it. But, I also think the rights and now the litigation about the rights for Friday the 13th played into it in a much more substantial way than just how the Rings sequel did.”
As Fuller notes, there’s currently an ongoing legal dispute between screenwriter Victor Miller and producer Sean Cunningham over the rights to Friday the 13th and the Jason Voorhees character, which has left the movie franchise – and even the Friday the 13th: The Game – in limbo. Hopefully it will all get resolved soon so Jason can get back to doing what he does best…
