Friday the 13th: Reboot writer talks about abandoned Paramount script
By Joey Click
After Paramount canned the ‘Friday the 13th’ reboot, counselors everywhere were upset Now, writer Nick Antosca is talking the abandoned script.
I’m beginning to think Friday the 13th really is unlucky…
According to Bloody-Disgusting, Jason Voorhees can’t catch a break. After news broke that Paramount was making a new Friday the 13th film, gaining the rights in a multi-film deal with Warner, camp counselors were ecstatic. But when Rings failed at the Box Office, Paramount cut production on the film and left Crystal Lake. Now, writer Nick Antosca is opening up about his abandoned script.
Here’s what Antosca is saying about the inspirations behind his first draft with co-writer David Bruckner:
"“The Paramount ‘Friday the 13th’ movies. Plus ‘Jaws’, a little bit. We just wanted to make a classic Jason movie, with kids at camp who get slaughtered, and great kills and some characters you actually enjoy hanging out with til they die. David Bruckner and I talked about how to make a consistent Jason throughout our movie, but nod to the different Jasons. I prefer supernatural Jason, personally. And I loved the imagery of him under the water.”"
Antosca, who also adds Dazed and Confused, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and John Hughes movies as influences behind the script, goes on to say their F13 takes place in the ’80s:
"“To me, that just feels right. That’s the Jason movie I want to see. It’s the same impulse that fed into ‘Stranger Things’ and a lot of ’80s nostalgia that we now see popping up. It was in the air a few years ago. I’d still love to see a new Friday the 13th set in the ‘80s.”"
More from Friday the 13th
- Best summer slashers to watch this season
- Is the Friday the 13th lawsuit over? Victor Miller reclaims domestic rights
- Is Camp Crystal Lake a real place?
- Friday the 13th Part 3 house is being rebuilt at the original filming location
- Jason and Friends: A Saturday-morning cartoon bloodbath
It’s crazy depressing we’ll never get this reboot.
While the writers were only at the initial script stage, the film sounds like it was on the right track. And the reason the Friday the 13th train derailed is a stupid one. After Paramount traded Warner the right to Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar for complete rights, the house was setting up the film. But after Rings came crashing at cinemas and raking in little money in the process, Paramount thought old horror is dead — a moronic mindset.
While thinking about it for less than three seconds, here’s why that comparison is stupid. The Ring franchise is part of both the remake crazy (early) and the J-horror movement with only two films. Friday the 13th, on the other hand, is a decades old franchise with over ten pictures and merchindise everywhere you look — nowhere the same. It also as nostalgia on its side, something more popular than ever.
Moreover, Friday the 13th: The Game is proof there are millions of fans still hungry for more Crystal Lake carnage. The game has sold over 1.8M copies, which is truly a stunning number, and shows there is still an audience…I doubt a Ring game would sell a quarter of that. So, come on Paramount, get your head out of your ass.
Next: RIP Tobe Hooper: The Ingeniousness of TCM 2
The rights revert back to Warner in January, so there’s still a chance we’ll be getting a new film within five years. But if studios continue to act this dumb, who knows?