The Scream 2022, which revived the meta-slasher franchise. In October 2022, Jason Voorhees ed this list of returning slasher villains when it was announced that producer Bryan Fuller was working on a Friday the 13th TV prequel.
Fuller's TV series Crystal Lake is set to explore the backstory of Jason Voorhees and revive the Friday the 13th franchise after the series spent years off screens thanks to a protracted legal battle between its original creators. Now, proving once again that Jason Voorhees can't be killed, the original Friday the 13th director season S Cunningham is also working on a new theatrical installment of the slasher series. It is unclear whether this Friday the 13th movie will be a sequel or another backstory-centric prequel like Crystal Lake. However, what is clear is that both of these projects seem to be in competition with each other.
Two Rival Friday The 13th Projects Could Be Good News
Per screenwriter Jeff Locker, original director Sean S Cunningham is working on a movie reboot of the Friday the 13th movies: "Obviously, the prequel TV series has reignited interest about a new film, so we're hoping the surrounding excitement will inspire both sides to come together and give us Jason on the big screen again." Locker hopes to avoid a recent horror franchise reboot's big mistake by securing a theatrical release for this new Friday the 13th movie, and if Crystal Lake's Jason backstory is sufficiently different in of tone, Cunningham's film and the prequel show can both succeed by taking tonally contrasting approaches to the story.
Locker went on to say, "we also have a Plan B for a sequel to the original we think fans will absolutely love and should avoid any legal entanglements." While this comment might make it seem like the "plan B" is a lesser option that the creators will need to rely on only if Crystal Lake's creators don't want to collaborate, there is no reason that having two dueling Friday the 13th projects in the works at once needs to be a bad thing. This way, one can offer a sympathetic look at Jason's backstory, and the other can offer a more straightforward, classic Friday the 13th outing.
Slasher Franchises Can't Always Pull This Off
While Chucky show was well-loved by both viewers and critics, 2019's unrelated movie reboot Child's Play was met with derision from fans and reviewers alike. The reboot's attempts to change Chucky's origin story and appearance were attempts to reinvent the series. However, this alienated existing fans and won over few new viewers.
As such, Friday the 13th must avoid this approach. Crystal Lake and Cunningham's Friday the 13th sequel can't change the original franchise formula too much, as this is what doomed the Childs Play reboot. Luckily, Jason's funny, over-the-top kills will have a place in Cunningham's direct sequel, while the scarier, more self-serious tone of the earlier Friday the 13th movies and 2009's reboot will find a home in Crystal Lake. As a result, the two projects can both take inspiration from the franchise's heyday while also both focusing on very different interpretations of the source material and Jason's story.
How Friday The 13th Can Succeed On TV And In Cinemas
If Cunningham's Friday the 13th reboot is more of a classic sequel and Crystal Lake is a deconstruction of the original movie's simplistic Jason backstory, the two projects will be tonally divergent enough to both succeed in tandem. Friday the 13th's TV show has Stranger Things, Friday the 13th's movie sequel can instead offer a more modern, up-to-date spin on Jason Voorhees.
The Scream movie than another unnecessary Jason Voorhees origin story.
Friday The 13th Must Utilize Jason's Diversity
Jason is a potentially sympathetic, tragic anti-villain and the terrifying monster of the original series, and each reboot can take one of these approaches. The Friday the 13th franchise gave Jason many forms, but the series never explored his sympathetic side with much depth or sincerity. Crystal Lake could handle this part of Jason's story, while Cunningham's sequel could recapture the original Friday the 13th's tense mystery story and gory thrills.
There is no reason that Crystal Lake and Sean S Cunningham's Friday the 13th project can't both take two radically different approaches to the same iconic story. The Friday the 13th franchise has switched tones, settings, and plot details more times than most viewers can keep up with, so another unexpected change isn't inconceivable. Provided they both stay true to the essence of what makes Jason Voorhees compelling, the Friday the 13th movie and the prequel TV show Crystal Lake can both become killer hits whether their creators end up working on the projects together or apart.
