If any of you have ever seen a Friday the 13th movie, it’s common knowledge that Jason Voorhees, the hockey mask-wearing, machete-wielding psycho at the series’ center, never stays dead for long. Now, after stewing for a few years as a result of conflicts between Warner Bros. and Paramount (which were resolved last year when WB gave up Friday the 13th in order to co-produce Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar), the landmark horror franchise is gearing up for another installment, but that doesn’t mean that Jason is out of the woods just yet.
Strangely enough, according to producer Brad Fuller, the iconic character might not even appear in the next Friday the 13th installment. Talking with Crave Online, Fuller owned up to the fact that very little has been decided about what’s happening with the planned thirteenth film. When asked if Derek Mears, who so memorably brought Jason to life in the otherwise unexceptional 2009 reboot, would be reprising the role of Jason, Fuller admitted:
I don’t know because I don’t know if we’re going to have Jason, I don’t know which Jason we’re going to have. I can tell you this: I love Derek Mears, I love working with him and he’s a dream so we’d be lucky to have him.
Before horror fans get up in arms about the possibility of a Jason-less Friday the 13th, it’s worth noting that the small amount of progress Platinum Dunes has made in pulling together the horror sequel means that hard facts about Jason’s role won’t be available for some time. Even the previously announced found-footage angle is far from a sure thing, according to Fuller:
[Found footage is] something that we’re looking at, yeah. I never know because it depends on the story and what the story is. It’s been reported, that’s something that we’re looking into but I can’t tell you definitively that that’s what the movie is. I’m well acquainted with some very loud members of the audience who hate found footage and I understand that. I think for us it’s more about what the story is and what’s the best way to tell it. Until we figure out exactly what the story is for the next Friday the 13th movie, I can’t tell you what it’s going to be.
Though it’s plain to see that Fuller is keeping his options open when it comes to Friday the 13th, Platinum Dunes really needs to start locking pieces into place if the studio is to have any hope of finishing the film before its planned release date early next year. And with no director, cast or script lined up, they certainly have their work cut out for them.
What do you think of the possibility that Jason may sit out the next Friday the 13th film, which would be a first for the horror series (though the big bad in the original flick did turn out to be Jason’s vengeful mother)? Sound off in the comments section!
The next Friday the 13th film is scheduled to hit theaters on March 13, 2015.
