Yesterday, I wrote a little something about the 11th anniversary of Friday the 13th‘s last appearance in theaters. On top of that momentous occasion, the original film’s director, Sean Cunningham, and the original film’s writer, Victor Miller, met in court this week to debate the rights to the first movie and all of its contents. The case seemingly may be cleared up sometime this summer, too, per an entertainment lawyer close to the proceedings.
Larry Zerner, a former actor who had a part in Friday the 13th Part III and has been following the case since its origins many moons ago, provided his professional analysis on the oral arguments presented yesterday via a long thread of Tweets on his official Twitter. A major highlight, presented here as a combination of two Tweets in the middle, gives the best insight as to what Zerner believes will ultimately happen.
“The court can do one of three things. 1) Affirm that Victor won and he owns the rights to the first F13, 2) Reverse and say that Sean owns all the rights or 3) Send it back to the district court for a trial…If I had to pick, I would bet that the court affirms and holds that Victor owns the rights (but you never know). If either side loses, they can appeal to the Supreme Court, but very unlikely that the S.Ct. would accept the case.”
In Zerner’s other thoughts on the presentation, he seems to indicate that Cunningham’s side was presenting arguments that could be easily disproven. He also admits that, if Victor wins, he doesn’t actually own Hockey Mask Era Jason, just small deformed child Jason. Heck, he didn’t even get the mask until Part III, which Zerner would know all about. So, the pair would have to reach some sort of agreement outside of court around the main reason why people go to F13 movies in the first place, ya know?
It seems messy and technical and, worst of all, greedy. As I lamented yesterday, this franchise has been left in the dust by Halloween. Even Texas Chainsaw Massacre is getting another reboot! Oh, Friday the 13th. How we miss thee…right? We do all miss it, right?
