Hellraiser director David Bruckner isn’t interested in returning to Friday the 13th franchise

Back in early 2014, it was announced that David Bruckner – who had previously directed segments of The Signal (2007) and V/H/S/ – had signed on to direct a new Friday the 13th film. Bruckner was attached to the project through two different approaches. At one point, he was working with The Autopsy of Jane Doe screenwriters Richard Naing and Ian B. Goldberg to develop a found footage Friday the 13th movie. When the found footage angle was dropped, he worked with Channel Zero creator Nick Antosca on a script that had a heavy focus on character and was supposed to be packed with ’80s songs. Dazed and Confused was a source of inspiration for that one. At the end of 2015, Bruckner moved on from Friday the 13th. He has gone on to direct The Ritual, The Night House, and the new Hellraiser movie (read our review HERE)… and now, he doesn’t see himself returning to Friday the 13th when the copyright issue is worked out.

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Bruckner said it was a good thing his Friday the 13th never went into production: “I wouldn’t have been prepared at the time [to direct Friday the 13th]. If I’m honest, the world of Hellraiser — the themes that it explores and the visual quality of it — is something that is much more of interest to me. I think I have more on offer where that’s concerned. So I’m very glad that I waited and did a few smaller indies in the interim.”

Bruckner said something similar to ComicBook.com: “I think for me, personally, it would be hard to find my way back into [Friday the 13th] now just because it’s like the actor’s approach to an audition, you have to just walk away at a certain point and put it behind you. Also, I spent a lot of time there. I worked with some wonderful writers, I think, and I’ve changed. Those ideas aren’t interesting to me quite the same way they were with the work we did in particular, but I’m a fan of the franchise. I think if you’re working on IP, whether it be Hellraiser or Friday the 13th, this doesn’t belong to me, it belongs to everybody. This is not the ultimate Hellraiser movie, it is one Hellraiser movie. There will be others, there will be other Friday the 13th films. They will figure it out, the IP is too valuable. The fans want it too much. So no, I’ll be the first person in theater to figure out what they did. Of course, I’ll think a lot about what we had, but no, and it goes the same for any of the stuff that we work on; I’m game, as long as I get to keep making stuff that I’m passionate about, I’ll be as grateful as I can be.“

There have been rumblings that indicate a new Friday the 13th might go into production sometime next year, but nothing has been confirmed yet. If you’re a fan who has been hoping Bruckner might circle back around to the project when it does get off the ground, it sounds like it’s time to set that hope aside and take him off the director wish list.

The last director who was attached to Friday the 13th before everything came crashing down was Breck Eisner (The Crazies 2010).

What do you think of Bruckner putting Friday the 13th behind him? Let us know by leaving a comment below.