When the copyright lawsuit between original Friday the 13th director/producer Sean S. Cunningham and screenwriter Victor Miller came to an end, Miller was awarded with the U.S. copyright to the first film. Miller went on to team up with his lawyer Marc Toberoff, A24, Hannibal creator Bryan Fuller, and Friday the 13th franchise rights holder Rob Barsamian – the last surviving investor in the original film – to start developing the “expanded prequel” / “pre-remake-quel” TV series Crystal Lake for the Peacock streaming service. Thanks to the involvement of both Miller and Barsamian, that series can use all elements from the entire Friday the 13th franchise. But Cunningham isn’t just walking away from the Friday the 13th business. Our friends over at Bloody Disgusting have learned that Cunningham is overseeing reboots of Friday the 13th and the 1985 horror comedy House (which he produced), while also producing an original film called The Night Driver!
All three of these projects are coming from the team of director Jeremy Weiss, who will be making his feature directorial debut with The Night Driver, and screenwriter Jeff Locker, who will have his first feature writing credit on The Night Driver. That movie is set to start filming in the late spring / early summer and will tell the story of “an everyday salesman who regularly drives across the country selling pharmaceuticals. One night on a backroad he encounters a madman who seems to be following him, leaving a trail of bodies in his wake. All he wants to do is make it home alive to his family at any cost; and by the time it’s over, he realizes that he’s either escaped the terror or it’s followed him home.” Initially written by John Cork, the project has been in the works for over a decade. Locker was brought in to do a rewrite on the script, and that led to Weiss, Locker, and Cunningham discussing making new Friday the 13th and House movies after The Night Driver wraps.
Speaking about Friday the 13th, Locker told Bloody Disgusting, “Jeremy and I pitched our dream reboot of Friday the 13th – with Sean’s blessing to keep developing it with him. 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 for the first time in 14 years, but we also have a Plan B for a sequel to the original we think fans will absolutely love and should avoid any legal entanglements.“
The House reboot will be “both an update and reimagining of the classic series, centering around the birth of a haunted house. Lots of great scares and howl-at-the-screen laughs, plus we’re bringing back a few of your favorite monsters from the original for some really fun but equally terrifying kills.” There are also plans for a tie-in video game.
While Crystal Lake appears to be a sure thing, there’s clearly more doubt about the Cunningham / Weiss / Locker Friday the 13th movie be able to make it into production… but I wish them the best, and would love to hear more information about the ideas Weiss and Locker have for my favorite franchise. The Night Driver sounds interesting and I’d gladly watch a new House, but the idea of another Friday the 13th is what really has my attention here.
What do you think of the idea of Cunningham producing new Friday the 13th and House movies, and how does The Night Driver sound to you? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
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