Failed ‘Friday the 13th’ Reboot Writer Reveals What Went Wrong

Created in 1980, the Friday the 13th franchise would go on to be one of the defining film series in the world of horror, standing alongside Dracula, The Mummy, Frankenstein’s Monster, and Michael Myers as one of the most iconic characters in the genre. Despite all that success and 12 films in its legacy, it’s been almost a decade since we’ve seen a new installment in the series.

The last installment, 2008’s Friday the 13th, was meant to serve as a reboot to the series, taking the mythology back to its roots and giving audiences a slasher set in the middle of the woods. While the film removed many of the supernatural elements, telekinesis, and the living undead, along with it went the campy factor that became a staple of the series.

The absence of Jason Voorhees on the big screen isn’t for lack of trying, with many filmmakers attempting to bring a project to life that would honor the original films and introduce the icon to new audiences.

One attempt at creating a new Friday the 13th film came from writer Nick Antosca, who wrote a script with David Bruckner, which became one of the more promising endeavors. Sadly, that project got scrapped in 2015, with Antosca going on to help develop the hit SYFY series Channel Zero.

Bloody Disgusting recently spoke with Antosca about elements of his story and what made it so difficult to get off the ground.

“We just wanted to make a classic Jason movie…”

Trying to create a new story while also honoring a character’s legacy can be a tricky tightrope act, with Antosca going on to explain his major influences on the script.

“The Paramount Friday the 13th movies,” Antosca explained of his biggest inspiration . “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.”

For those unfamiliar with the character, Jason doesn’t even appear until the second film and, while there is a supernatural and unstoppable quality to his character, it isn’t until the sixth film, where a metal spear in his torso gets struck by lightning, that he is officially brought back from being dead. In future films, Jason is mostly a supernatural figure.

“David Bruckner and I talked about how to make a consistent Jason throughout our movie, but nod to the different Jasons,” explained of crafting the killer. “I prefer supernatural Jason, personally. And I loved the imagery of him under the water.”

“We adjusted the timeline a bit…”

Over the course of 12 films, Jason has undergone a lot of carnage, having also gone to the future and battled with Freddy Krueger. Antosca was tasked with either honoring all of his adventures or trying to give the character a fresh start.

Antosca detailed, “We just accepted from the beginning that we would have to pick and choose elements of the mythology to make a coherent one within one movie. It’s obviously not consistent over the course of the franchise, but you have a lot to work with. We adjusted the timeline a bit to make sense.”

When elaborating about the timeline adjustment, the filmmaker explained he would want to go back to the ’80s to mirror the vibe of many of the original installments.

“To me, that just feels right,” he expressed about the timeline. “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.”

“We had aimed for a winter-set sequel…”

In the ’80s, eight different Friday the 13th films were released. An integral component of any single installment is that it could set up sequels, a task Antosca fully embraced. His idea for a sequel would have also been one of the most unique entries in the franchise.

“We had aimed for a winter-set sequel,” Antosca noted. “The details were not hashed out, but it would have involved people returning to the site of the horrific massacre in the first movie — probably just six months later.”

Considering the series traditionally centers around summer camps, we often see coeds in their swimsuits in the middle of the woods. Throwing winter into the mix could have made for a fascinating installment, from a snow-covered Jason to the variety of tools that might be left around the woods.

“It shouldn’t be that hard to make a Friday the 13th movie.”

Ultimately, it wasn’t from a lack of interest from audiences or compelling ideas that resulted in the film never getting made, but a whole lot of political complications behind the scenes.

“I know Platinum Dunes was ready to go — they were enthusiastic,” the filmmaker noted. “I heard various things — Paramount changed their mind about the ’80s setting, they wanted more mythology. Also, there was some corporate changeover in the ranks there, and the people who were in charge when I was hired were no longer there. The new folks may have wanted to put their own stamp on it. It happens. I was curious to see the version they did make, and I was disappointed when that fell apart too.”

Ultimately, Antosca shared the same sentiment as millions of fans who want another Friday the 13th film, confessing, “It shouldn’t be that hard to make a Friday the 13th movie.”

While there’s no word on when we’ll get a new Friday the 13th from any filmmaker, you can check out Antosca’s Channel Zero: No-End House when it premieres on SYFY on September 20.