The incredibly old Friday the 13th franchise hasn`t seen a new episode in 13 years. Why not? Well, original director Sean Cunningham has been involved in a legal battle with screenwriter Victor Miller since 2016. And now it seems that their trial is coming to an end. Zerner goes on to say that the parties “didn`t necessarily [agree]” and that “it could just mean that Sean Cunningham realized that a certificate application was a real long shot and didn`t want to waste his money.” Miller`s possession of the original script gave him the legal rights to young Jason Voorhees, but although Cunningham still had the right to mask Jason, he could not use it without Miller`s permission. That realization could still cause trouble for a franchise that has only released new content in the form of fan movies and Friday the 13th: The Game, the latter having been cleared before the trial. “The best novel idea I`ve ever written (and probably never will) is I JASON,” King tweeted in June 2020. when, along with Avatar comics, they released a special edition of Friday the 13th. Written by Brian Pulido and illustrated by Mike Wolfer and Greg Waller, the story takes place after Freddy`s vs. Jason events, where siblings Miles and Laura Upland inherit Camp Crystal Lake. Knowing that Jason has caused the latest destruction, Laura sets out to kill Jason along with a paramilitary group so that she and her brother can sell the property. [135] The issue has sold over 17,500 copies. [136] Avatar released a three-part miniseries in September 2005 titled Friday the 13th: Bloodbath.
Written by Brian Pulido, illustrated by Mike Wolfer and Andrew Dalhouse, the series revolves around a group of teenagers who come to Camp Tomorrow, a camp on Crystal Lake, to work and spend a “party weekend.” The teens begin to discover that they share a common family past and soon awaken Jason, who kills them. Brian Pulido returned for the third time in October 2005 to write another special edition for Avatar titled Jason X.[137] Following the events of the movie Jason X, Jason is now on Earth 2, where a bioengineer, Kristen, tries to subdue him, hoping to use his regenerative tissue to save his own life and the lives of those she loves. In February 2006, Avatar released his latest comic book Friday the 13th, a two-part miniseries titled Friday the 13th: Jason vs. Jason X. The series was written and illustrated by Mike Wolfer. The story takes place after the events of the movie Jason X, where a rescue team discovers the Grendel spaceship and awakens a regenerated Jason Voorhees. The “original” Jason and Über-Jason, a version of Jason with mechanical limbs, are drawn into a fight to the death. [139] In June 2006, a one-shot comic titled Friday the 13th: Fearbook was published, written by Mike Wolfer with graphics by Sebastian Fiumara. In the comic, Jason is captured by the Trent Organization and experiments. Jason flees and searches for Violet, the survivor of Friday the 13th: Bloodbath, who is detained by the Trent Organization at its headquarters in Crystal Lake. [140] Jason X (2001) takes place in the future when Jason is inexplicably resurrected.
A scientist, Rowan LaFontaine (Lexa Doig), decides that cryonic suspension is the only way to stop him, but Jason escapes and kills the army personnel who were guarding him before he can be locked up again. Rowan manages to lure Jason into the cryogenic chamber, but he tears the tank and freezes Rowan. More than 400 years later, a team of students studying Earth discovers Jason`s body and takes it into space. After being thawed by the team, he murders everyone aboard the spaceship. He is apparently killed, but then resurrected by nanotechnology as a cyborg version of himself. Eventually, he is thrown into space and burned by Earth Two`s atmosphere, with his mask falling to the bottom of a lake. [14] The following Friday, the 13th film, Freddy vs. Jason (2003), was a crossover with A Nightmare on Elm Street. Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) resurrects Jason (Ken Kirzinger) and sends him to Springwood, hoping he will create enough fear among the residents that Freddy will be strong enough to invade their dreams. Jason succeeds, but refuses to stop killing.
Both in the world of dreams and in Crystal Lake, there is a struggle. The outcome remains uncertain when Jason emerges from the lake and holds Freddy`s severed head, who winks and laughs. [15] The long legal battle of Friday the 13th is officially over, and Victor Miller has retained the national rights to the script. The Friday the 13th franchise began in 1980 with Sean S. Cunningham`s slasher film, which spawned ten sequels and a remake that collectively grossed more than $460 million at the global box office. This popularity has been cemented in the horror community, where the franchise and its antagonist Jason Voorhees are iconic. However, it seems that things are calming down, and there is a winner in the fight between Victor Miller and Sean S. Cunningham, as reports say Miller won the copyright termination. Lee and others have been trying to launch a new installment of the Friday the 13th franchise for some time, but their efforts have stalled due to an ongoing legal battle. The complications stem from the legality surrounding the show`s main character, Jason Vorhees.
Long story short, the first Friday the 13th was made in 1980 by filmmaker Sean S. Cunningham, who hired screenwriter Victor Miller to write a screenplay for “Friday the 13th,” taking advantage of the slasher film excitement that prevailed at that time in cinema. In case you matter, it`s been 13 long years since last Friday the 13th movie, the underrated banger that is the 2009 remake. This is due, at least in part, to years of chaotic litigation between Cunningham himself and the screenwriter of the original film, Victor Miller. The franchise has since become a huge success, leading Miller to try to acquire more ownership of the property in recent years. By invoking an obscure copyright law, Miller was able to win the first legal battle where the problems began. While the slasher franchise became known for the menacing presence of killer Jason Voorhees, it wasn`t until the third film that Miller didn`t write that the character was introduced in his current form. So, unless a deal is reached between the two parties, any reboot would have to abandon either the iconic killer or the franchise`s famous title. Two things that anyone who wants to bring the 13th film to the screen on another Friday will refuse.
Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988) begins an indefinite period after Jason Lives. Jason (Kane Hodder) is revived by telekinetic Tina Shepard (Lar Park Lincoln), who tries to revive her father, whom Tina let drown in the lake as a child. Jason again kills those occupying Crystal Lake and is sent back to the bottom of the lake after a fight with Tina. [11] Jason is revived by an underwater cable in Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989). He follows a group of students on their cruise to Manhattan, where he kills the ship`s crew and most of the students. Arriving in Manhattan, Jason chases Rennie (Jensen Daggett) and Sean (Scott Reeves), the two remaining students, down the sewers. Jason eventually melts because the sewer is flooded with toxic waste. [12] In Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993), Jason is chased by an inexplicable resurrection by the FBI at Crystal Lake.
The FBI puts on a sting that kills Jason successfully. By obsession, Jason manages to survive by transmitting his dark heart from one being to another. It turns out that he has a sister and a niece and that he needs them to get his body back. Jason is resurrected, but his niece, Jessica Kimble (Kari Keegan), stabs him with a mystical dagger and he is dragged to hell. [13] A battle over Jason`s age and appearance could be contentious because of a significant restriction in U.S. copyright law: it only applies to rights in the United States, not foreign markets coveted by Hollywood distributors. Cunningham says those rights still belong to him and the original investors. Looking at Mount Rushmore of horror franchises, any fan of the genre would agree that Halloween`s Michael Myers, Texas Chainsaw Massacre`s Leatherface, Nightmare on Elm Street`s Freddy Krueger and Friday the 13th`s Jason Vorhees don`t doubt.
Of those four, the Friday the 13th franchise remained the longest without new films or official releases. The break is not due to a lack of history or fan demands, but to the legal issues surrounding the franchise. Like Jason himself, who chased the last girl, there was a whole cat and a mouse, both sides resembling the winner. This year, we may have some finality and a chance to get the 13th film this thirteenth Friday. Unfortunately, the state of the Friday The 13th film franchise has been in the air for years. With a fierce legal battle, everything about Jason Voorhees was put on hold, and even the hit video game suffered a hit.