The Friday The 13th lawsuit appears dead… for now
Will Jason ever get another chance to haunt the horny counselors of Camp Crystal Lake?
Aux News Friday The 13th
Somewhere at the bottom of Crystal Lake (or, perhaps, frozen aboard some spaceship lost in the cosmos), the immortal hockey-masked killer Jason Voorhees awaits his return. It’s been an appropriate 13 years since he last waved his machete in the direction of a pair of humping camp counselors, and thanks to an ongoing lawsuit over ownership of the character, his wrists might not be getting a proper workout for some time.
However, there’s always a chance that he’ll make his return. As such, there’s been a break in the case. In September, Victor Miller, the screenwriter of 1980’s Friday The 13th, won a “copyright termination appeal” against the producers, meaning the rights to the characters and locations found in the original Friday The 13th movie will revert to him. Previously, the producers argued that they hired Miller as an independent contractor. The court disagreed.
Yesterday, entertainment Larry Zerner tweeted that no appeal has been filed against the court’s decision, so Miller will retain ownership of the original screenplay. It should be noted that Zerner isn’t just a copywriter lawyer, he’s also the actor who played Shelley in Friday The 13th Part III. For those unfamiliar, Shelley is the rightful owner of the hockey mask, which Jason stole from Shelley after slashing his throat.
Now, Zerner admits that this doesn’t necessarily mean a new Friday The 13th entry is on the way. He notes that Sean S. Cunningham, the producer of numerous Friday The 13th installments and the director of the original, probably “realized that a cert petition was a real longshot and didn’t want to waste his money.” Though the lack of appeal does crack open the door for a resolution outside of the courts, Zerner admits he “wouldn’t hold [his] breath.”
According to Zerner, it comes down to a couple of tangled legal threads. First and foremost, Miller only owns the U.S. rights to the first movie’s screenplay, meaning that Crystal Lake, Jason Voorhees, and his mother, Pamela, are his. Therefore, while “Sean owns adult, hockey mask-wearing Jason,” Lerner writes, he “can’t legally use him in a movie without Victor’s permission.” He also notes that tomorrow is Cunningham’s 80th birthday, which is nice.
Where does that leave us? Well, without a new Friday The 13th movie for now. This Jason drought might seem like a late holiday gift for the parents, religious groups, and censors that waged war against these films in the 80s. But after a decade without our big galoot around to stuff a sleeping bag with horny college kids, we’re desperate for his return.
93 Comments
So Miller could make a movie, set at Crystal Lake, featuring young frog-boy Jason and his teen-murdering mother?
Sign me up!
But who owns the rights to the guy who eats Jason’s heart and then becomes Jason?
New Line Cinema, probably, since they produced that film.
I think he just got sold as a NFT.
Well shit is my post a copyright violation or something then? Am I being recorded on the blockchain? ARE THE CRYPTO COPS AT MY DOOR?!
Crypto being decentralized, everyone is a crypto cop. But the guys who come to your door are the post-apocalyptic weirdos from the end of Weird Science.
Hey maaannn…I ain’t no crypto-fuzz!
Not Kelly LeBrock from the middle?SON OF A BITCH!
Worse, you’re in violation of the greatest foundation of the NFT-verse: The Honor System.May the internet be merciful to you.
That is a gift that belongs to all humanity.
The header image looks like Jason joined Jabawokeez.
But can you dig it, man?
That depends, are you talking about Shaft?
Does this mean we can finally get some new content in the Friday the 13th video game? Maybe Jason can be added to Dead by Daylight?
Unlikely in that game since the production studio wrapped up work on it. But maybe a sequel?
I imagine the F13 devs are just sitting back with fingers crossed that a Texas Chainsaw lawsuit doesn’t start up.
Oh no, we’re stuck with only our national reserve of… Jesus there’s 12 of these?
I mean, there really ought to be one more, and then the franchise can be dumped in a lake forever.
‘Friday the 13th 13: Let’s Just Knuckle Down And Get Through This’.
whatever troll
We really just need to make it to 13 and then it’s all good.
It’s a good headline, I’ll give you that much.
Now can we get a lawsuit that shuts down the Halloween franchise?
You know, I was enjoying the renaissance until the last one where they dared to SPOILER kill off Judy Greer SPOILER
That whole last movie was like having someone swap my trick-or-treat candy bag for a sack of wet cabbage.
Absolutely. I kind of thought it had some good thoughts and intents. But as I’m watching it I’m thinking “no one can chop this guy up? Maybe drop a couple handgrenades in his pants?”
Jason got blown to bits and we saw what that wrought…
Valid point: has Mike M been struck by lightning in a Graveyard and attained those abilities? I know he’s “super-human” but at other times…I dunno.
Silver Shamrock is what I’m saying, I guess.
The Thorn, the fists of Busta Rhymes or anything else retconned away shouldn’t be baggage this Mike M is carrying to his aid or detriment. Still for a senior citizen, he killed a small mob that had him cornered like he had some kind of slasher maniac magic.
That was the inevitable porn parody.
Every decent filmmaker knows that you don’t kill of Judy Greer, you shuffle her out of the plot in the first act and then have her smile in cutaways during the last ten minutes.
Jason’s taken Manhattan, gone to Hell, fought Freddy, and been in space. He’s even been rebooted twice already. Just let the frachise die.
Yeah, but what about Time Travel?
Jason in King Arthur’s CourtJason and the ArgonautsJason’s RunThey practically write themselves.
What killed the dinosaurs?Jason. Slowly and methodically.
Jason and the Pussycats
“Does thou Father know you are sneaking into squire camp fair maiden?”“Silence now and deflower me before your young charges wake from their sleep”Cue Jason with a ye olde machete
Jason slowly and methodically testing out an array of medieval weapons would alone be worth the watch.
It’s A Jason Jason Jason Jason Jason World
The Great Muppet Jason
Jason Doesn’t Live Here Anymore
Bob, Carol, Ted, Alice And Jason
Three Men, A Baby And Jason
Citizen Jason
Realistically, whoever owns the franchise rights at the moment (I think Paramount?), or whoever wants to make another F13 movie, they just need to give Camp Cunningham and Camp Miller a license fee and a royalty cut like in any other licensing deal and life is golden. It just means that the fees they used to send to Sean Cunningham are now split between Sean Cunningham and Victor Miller – it’s not that it has become more expensive to licence the characters, only that the licensing is now split between two owners, neither of whom have any reason to say no because they can’t really do much without the other (unless Victor Miller wanted to do a Mrs Voorhees-based prequel, which he probably would, because people love making appalling horror character prequels for some reason).
Just make a 13th movie that takes place at Crystal Lake during winter with snow and all that and we’ll be good.
Earlier this ear I bought a bundle of the first 8 Friday the 13th movies off the PS Store. Maybe it’s just me, but I think at least the first four movies are rather underrated. They sort of had the slasher movie rules you hear about in Scream, but they weren’t quite written in stone. Like how in part 1, one ofthe first counsellors killed off was Ann (who totally would have been a final girl in almost any other film).
There’s honestly more good times than bad times in that first Paramount 8.
Bar none, my favorite moment is part VIII when that dude squared up with Jason. Big hero moment.Sure, he got killed like everyone else, but he went out like a G.
I think I’ve seen Jason Takes Manhattan more times than any other Friday 13th film. It seemed to always be on BBC during the 90’s.Dude getting his head punched off was certainly impressive.
I will go to bag for Jason X. It’s stupid and silly but it’s what a Friday the 13th movie needed at that point. Plus it’s the only one I saw in theaters.
The craziest story I heard about this series was about the actor playing Jason in Part 4 didn’t want to be credited and why. On one hand, he had a long carreer as a stuntman and sort of thought the job was beneath him, which isn’t cool. BUT, on the other, much better hand, he also stood up for several cast members because he thought the director was being inconsiderate to one and endangering another. Imagine having a work environment where Jason Voorhees thinks he has to step in on your behalf.https://screenrant.com/friday-13th-final-chapter-movie-jason-actor-not-credited-why/
I forget which of the Danielle Harris Halloween flicks it was, but the actor playing Michael Myers was similarly thoughtful towards the cast, especially the younger ones. He’d wear the mask only during takes and not during rehearsals so they would be at ease. (I think his background was also stunts, so he he was particularly protective about actor safety.)
Just made a similar comment above – I don’t remember 7 and 8, but 1 – 6 all have at least their own personalities and are quick, fun watches.
you are ear delicious!
Sorry, I don’t quite understand.
“Yesterday, entertainment Larry Zerner tweeted…”It’s amazing to actually BE entertainment! I guess in his role as Shelley, Zerner definitively earned that designation.
Maybe tomorrow it’ll be Larry Csonka.
We should be so lucky!
I hope the next one isn’t a “legacy sequel” like Halloween and Ghostbusters. Just have him kill people in an interesting setting.
How about a Renaissance Festival?
I’m thinking Stanley Cup. Hide in plain sight.
I remember reading years ago that they were going to do one in the snow
I think it was a fan film with a budget.
Friday The 13th: In The Snow:
A gang of horny teenagers use harpoons and tow cables to trip up Jason’s legs!
That would be completely awesome and you know it
“Good shot Janson! At that speed, I didn’t think you could pull out in time!”
(I know I’m crossing references)
Killing people in an office building taken over by thieves masquerading as terrorists during a holiday party.
Fast and Furious Friday the 13th.I’m in.
Make Jason stand on a corner in Harlem wearing a sandwich sign…
Can this whole thing just be resolved? It’d be nice to have a movie dedicated to Jason’s origins for once. Some character development just to gain some perspective of where this guy comes from or what made him who he is. As far as I can tell he just wakes up every movie and starts slaughtering people. Why, Jason?
I know people out there clamoring for more F13 movies, but I can’t for the life of me understand why. Maybe it’s because I’m not really a slasher guy (love horror in general, and there’s a handful of slashers I dig, but once you get into the 4th or 5th sequel of just about anything, there’s not much more you can do with the concept), but I just don’t see any more blood that can be squeezed out of this rock.
The F13 movies are great 80s popcorn horror flicks but you can’t recapture the magic 40 years later. Those aught reboots were terrible.
I have a soft spot for Freddy Vs. Jason for some reason. Not a good movie by any stretch but I find it more entertaining than most of them.
I was thinking more the remake(which for some reason I thought got a sequel but I may be wrong) then FvJ. Which is just silly fun.
It did what it set out to do, namely see Freddy fight Jason. Sure there was a pretty long build-up but I respect that they went through the trouble of explaining how and why these two iconic horror villains meet up. It was by no means scary but then neither of these two franchises were particularly scary, save for maybe the first Elm Street but it was hella fun.
Up through around Jason Lives (part VI) they’re all pretty solidly entertaining slashers. I don’t remember much after that but IIRC it’s when things started to get some combination of repetitive and silly (Manhattan, space, etc.). But six movies is a good run.
I said elsewhere that I like Jason X because if you are going to go silly, you go to space and hire a bunch of Canadians bored of working with Kevin Sorbo. It’s honestly the only horror sequel that goes to space that works because it knows what it is but they still spent some money to make it. Hellraiser’s space entry was to busy getting high in its own farts to even crack a joke and Leprechaun in space has its moments but it’s budget is so low it looks like a bad fan film.
Agreed. I can go back and watch Jason X because it’s just stupid fun.Personally, I liked H4: Bloodlines, at least I liked the premise of Bloodlines and Pinhead has arguably the best lines in the series, which he is most known for anyway. Pinhead was never the stalker/slasher type so it.Like the lost director’s cut of Event Horizon, I would’ve loved to see a director’s cut of Kevin Yagher and Peter Atkins’ original script.
the …in Space. Horror Franchise movies are all low budget for the space stuff. But that’s thier charm. I want Freddy vs Jason in Space where Freddy invades the dreams of people in hypersleep. Jason is being use to power the hyper drive because space magic. But really it’s about Freddy wanted to get revenge on Jason for the first Freddy vs Jason. It’ll end up being Super Jason vs Mecha-Freddy and a lot of people will die before a Deus Ex Machina saves the day in the end. I can do it on a budget of $40 million.
nah they were good
Mostly I care about video game stuff. Even if Gun Media are done with their attempt.
Fair enough.
F13 has the advantage of never having been good. There’s no John Carpenter’s Halloween-level masterpiece for later movies to not measure up to. There’s no magic to recapture. If they so desire they can just keep making entertaining pieces of shit ad infinitum. Jason in the snow! Friday the 13th, the fifth epilogue after the second or third final chapter! Jason Goes To Heaven! Jason Takes Vancouver, BC! Actually, they already did that one. I would watch Jason Goes To Heaven.
I think it’s a modern fairy tale now. People know what it is and there’s some comfort in a reliable franchise like that. I think that’s part of why the Fast and Furious series works for people, too. These are foundational pieces of modern culture and because of that, they feel like home. Also, for people who grew up with it, having it gone might feel like their grip on culture is slipping. Eventually, we all face that kind of thing.
I think there’s plenty more stories to tell, the comics showed as that.
I’m pitching this: Make the next one about the kids at the camp. It’s always about the counselors. I want to see the “It” version of Friday the 13th. There’s no way this is a dumber idea than send Jason into space and/or New York for 15 min.
The “slasher” sub-genre of horror was all about the moral panic bullshit of the 80’s — it is a creature of its time — let it go. Maybe find something more today than re-hashing the Michael/Jason/Freddie/etc. 80’s slasher dudes.
Urban gunfire?
When I was 12 I met a guy named Ron Kurz (in 1986) who wrote Part II. He told me he was the one who came up with Jason becoming the main antagonist. No mention of a hockey mask, tho.
Part 2 is a high point of the series. Presumably that guy also made the decision to kill off the previous movie’s survivor in the first scene, to make one of the characters a sexy, popular guy in a wheelchair, and to go full Freudian in the climax. It’s visionary. Jason doesn’t get a hockey mask until Part 3. Weirdly, he takes the mask from one of his victims. Even more weirdly, the guy isn’t a hockey player but a nerdy guy who likes masks and practical jokes (he’s also overtly represented as Jewish for some reason, which adds another level of weirdness).
You’re all missing the bigger studio option: Cunningham owns the rights to “WaterPower” aka The Enema Bandit and if ever a film is screaming for a re-issue, this is it.
Yeah, it’s Cunningham! That’s the guy! GET ‘IM!
I bet he’s actually this really mellow, laid back guy who just loves humanity as opposed to the misanthropic monster I’d expect.
The real casualty of this lawsuit was the death of the Friday the 13th the video game. Sure it had a lot of glitches and bugs but what started as a Kickstarter campaign to a multi-platform release, became a sleeper hit for many. There was already a handful of DLC with new game modes, emotes and outfits, along with a dev roadmap with a lot of new content already in the works before everything came to an indefinite halt due to the lawsuit.I hear Gun Media is working on a Texas Chainsaw Massacre survival horror game next. I hope they have better luck with this one.
Wow! The guy is a former actor, and now he’s a lawyer who ALSO writes ad copy???