Original ‘Friday The 13th’ director Sean S. Cunningham is working on a reboot
Sean S. Cunningham, the director and producer of the original Friday The 13th movie, has revealed he’s working on a reboot of the classic slasher horror alongside director Jeremy Weiss and writer Jeff Locker.
Released in 1980, the original Friday The 13th tells the story of a group of counsellors who, during one ill-fated camping trip, are brutally murdered one by one after entrepreneur Steve Christie reopens a long-haunted lakeside campsite. The film gave birth to a slew of sequels and prequels, including the fabulously corny 2003 crossover Freddy Vs Jason, which sees Freddy Kruger and Jason go head to head in a spree of brutal killings.
Cunningham only directed the first Friday The 13th. Now, it looks like he’s back in the director’s chair. “Jeremy and I pitched our dream reboot of Friday The 13th,” Jeff Locker said (per Bloody Disgusting), “with Sean’s blessing to keep developing it with him.”
The writer added: “Obviously, the prequel TV series has reignited interest about a new film, so we’re hoping the surrounding excitement will inspire both sides to come together and give us Jason on the big screen again for the first time in 14 years, but we also have a Plan B for a sequel to the original we think fans will absolutely love and should avoid any legal entanglements.”
Friday The 13th has certainly been entangled in the past. The franchise has faced numerous difficulties relating to the rights and trademarks of Jason Voorhees, the machete-wielding antagonist. Cunningham, Locker and Weiss are also working on a reboot of the 1985 comedy horror film House and an all-new horror project titled The Night Driver.
“Working on The Night Driver with Sean and Jeff was such a great experience, by the time the momentum was picking up we were looking for what projects could be next in line,” Weiss said. “As a horror nerd through and through, Friday The 13th and House were naturally where I wanted to head next.”
A Friday The 13th prequel series is already in the works; Peacock and A24 have confirmed. The upcoming series, which was unveiled in October, is called Crystal Lake and has been described as an “expanded prequel” of the original film.
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