Friday the 13th: Spooky Day for a Spooky Franchise?

The Friday the 13th franchise is one of the most iconic in horror, and its core killer, Jason Voorhees, is a slasher legend, making his 15-year absence from the big screen all the more baffling.

The long-running film franchise revolves around Jason Voorhees, a seemingly unkillable monster whose main plot has been rebooted or redirected away from Camp Crystal Lake numerous times.

While other renowned horror film franchises such as Halloween, Alien, and Scream have continued to thrive with new chapters and variations every few years, the Friday the 13th franchise has gone entirely silent.

To be fair, no Friday the 13th film has ever been a shining example of cinematic excellence, nor has its box office performance ever been noteworthy. However, in the age of streaming, it is unusual for something with the nostalgic weight of a renowned series to remain untouched for more than 15 years.  

1. How long Has it been since the last Friday, The 13th Movie?

The most recent attempt to return Jason Voorhees from the dead occurred in 2009, 15 years ago. Friday the 13th (2009) was intended to serve as a reboot for the franchise, entirely resetting the timeline and continuity.

The plot was similar to the first three Friday the 13th films, with Jason portraying a sympathetic persona despite ruthlessly murdering almost everyone he meets. The film became a box office success, earning over $92 million on a budget of under $19 million.

However, it suffered from the same flaws as almost all of its predecessors. Because it essentially rehashed the first few films in the franchise, it added almost nothing new to the mix. Jason may have been leaner than the huge beast he became previously in the franchise, but the mask was physically created from a mould of the Friday the 13th Part III mask.

The film was a critical failure, and although grossing the franchise’s second-highest total, it did little to persuade any studio to continue the tale seriously.

2. Why There Hasn’t Been Any New Friday The 13th Movies?

While there was originally intended to be a follow-up to the 2009 reboot, trying economic times pushed it to the backburner for Warner Bros. Pictures, and eventually, it faded out of existence. 

The franchise rights passed over to Paramount Pictures in 2013, and a new instalment was put into motion almost immediately, this time as a found-footage movie. After more delays and directors/writers tagging in and out of the project, the movie, which had evolved into a reboot, was finally shelved in 2017, and rights passed back to Warner Bros. and New Line in 2018.

Within that time frame, the writer of the original Friday the 13th, Victor Miller, sued for rights to the screenplay, which had existed with the company he originally worked for when he wrote the screenplay.

Multiple years of legal back-and-forth further hindered any Friday the 13th projects from being made, with Miller finally gaining the rights in September 2021. In that time, several sequels and prequels were worked over, with titles including Jason Never Dies, Friday the 13th: The Beginning, and Diary of Pamela Voorhees, but ultimately nothing has ever gotten off the ground.

3. Will There Be More Friday, The 13th, Projects?

Despite years of disappointments, the future of Friday the 13th seems bright, thanks to one potential endeavor in particular. Crystal Lake, a Friday the 13th prequel show, debuted in 2022 and appeared to be all but gone by early 2024.

However, the program is back on track, and with the assistance of ace low-budget production firm A24, it looks quite promising. Crystal Lake is presently run by Brad Caleb Kane, who previously created the IT prequel show IT: Welcome to Derry, and is set to debut on Peacock.

Jason Voorhees may find his way back to the big screen in the near future as well. Sean S. Cunningham, director and producer of the original Friday the 13th, along with writer Jeff Locker and producer Jeremy Weiss, has already pitched a reboot for the franchise.

However, Cunningham has stated plainly that there won’t be another Friday the 13th movie for at least another three years, so the earliest that Jason could make his grand return would be 2027.

About Friday the 13th (franchise)

Friday the 13th is an American horror franchise that comprises twelve slasher films, a television series, novels, comic books, video games, and tie‑in merchandise.

The franchise mainly focuses on the fictional character Jason Voorhees, who was thought to have drowned as a boy at Camp Crystal Lake due to the negligence of the camp staff.

Decades later, the lake is rumored to be “cursed” and is the setting for a series of mass murders. Jason is featured in all of the films, as either the killer or the motivation for the killings. The original film was written by Victor Miller, produced and directed by Sean S. Cunningham, and released by Paramount Pictures. The films have grossed over $468 million at the box-office.