Teaser Trailer for 1998 'Freddy Vs. Jason' Project Surfaces
08/31/2017 03:53 pm EDT
In 2003, horror fans got to see two of the biggest names in the genre square off against one another with both Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees hoping to reign supreme. Freddy vs. Jason ended up breathing a fair share of life into both franchises, but five years earlier, director Rob Bottin pieced together a teaser for the bout in hopes of earning funds for the project, which didn't come to fruition. The teaser, however, has recently surfaced and can be viewed above.
Long before there was a shared universe of super hero films or The Conjuring inspired spin-offs and sequels, the closest fans came to seeing some of the biggest names in horror go up against one another was at the end of 1993's Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday. The film's final shot was that of Jason Voorhees' iconic hockey mask laying in the dirt after being defeated, only for Freddy Krueger's iconic gloved hand to reach up and grab it, implying that the two characters would duke it out in Hell.
The following year, Wes Craven gave audiences New Nightmare, which took a meta approach to Freddy Krueger, crafting a narrative about how the original film's star, Heather Langenkamp, and Krueger actor Robert Englund had been tormented over the concept of the killer, not necessarily an actual supernatural presence. This film didn't necessarily rule out the idea that the two would collide, with the meta elements allowing the filmmaker to circumvent continuity issues.
The next film in the Friday the 13th franchise, Jason X, took place hundreds of years in the future, which theoretically could've accounted for Jason having already battled Freddy to unknown results
Freddy vs. Jason finally came together in 2003 and was followed by reboots of both franchises, which have yet to see sequels.
Recently, an internal memo from New Line Cinema that was circulated in the fall following Freddy vs. Jason's release surfaced that detailed what some of the creative minds at the studio hoped to do with a sequel.
The plan was for Ash Williams, the hero from the Evil Dead franchise, to use the Necronomicon and be transported to Freddy and Jason's dimension to do battle. An interesting note about the memo was that it implies Ash would have killed off Krueger for good, explaining, "Per our conversations with him [Englund] in the past, he agrees that the fans will embrace and accept the idea of Ash killing off our burned villain for good, as opposed to their reaction should a 16-year-old virgin girl do the job (again)."
There are currently no solid plans regarding the futures of either the A Nightmare on Elm Street or Friday the 13th franchises.
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