Of all the days to drop this news, they picked Friday the 13th. Somebody over at Camp Blood finally learned how marketing works.
Jason Voorhees is going back to the movies. Deadline broke it this morning: a brand-new Friday the 13th feature is in the works for 2027, and it’ll be the 13th movie in the franchise. Lucky number 13, on Friday the 13th. I’m not crying, you’re crying. Into a hockey mask.
It’s the first Friday the 13th movie since the 2009 Warner Bros. reboot. That’s almost two decades of Jason being stuck in rights hell while the rest of us rewatched Part VI for the 40th time and pretended that was fine. It wasn’t fine.
The guy directing it is the guy who made Jason Jason
Here’s the part that got me. The director is Steve Miner. If that name doesn’t ring a bell, the stuff he did absolutely will. Miner was an associate producer on the original 1980 movie, then directed Friday the 13th Part 2 in 1981 (Deadline credits it with first putting the machete in Jason’s hands) and Part III in 1982. Part III is the movie where Jason puts on the hockey mask for the first time. That’s it. That’s the whole icon. Every Halloween costume, every NECA figure, every tattoo on some dude’s calf at the gas station traces back to a choice this guy made.
Miner gets it, too. Here’s what he told Deadline:
“When I put the hockey mask on Jason for Friday the 13th Part III, I knew it would create a truly scary image that would work for that movie. I had no idea that it would live on as one of the most iconic symbols in horror films. I’m thrilled to come back and continue the legacy.”
Dread Central notes Miner is 75. He’s also the guy who did Halloween H20, so this isn’t his first time bringing a slasher legend back after a long break.
Who’s actually making this thing
This one is going indie. The movie is being financed and produced by the Barsamian family, who control the franchise through their company Horror, Inc. Dread Central points out the announcement lists no production role for New Line, Warner Bros. or Paramount, the studios that ran Jason’s life for decades.
The script comes from David Fliegel, who Deadline calls an “emerging screenwriter.” /Film says this looks like his first produced screenplay, going by his IMDb page. So, a franchise legend in the chair and a new guy at the keyboard. Could go either way. Most of these movies were written on a napkin anyway, and I love them.
CatchLight Studios, the production company behind A24’s Heretic and Umma, is the production partner. Cineverse has North American distribution, theatrical included, so yes, this is meant for actual theaters.
Robbie Barsamian, executive VP of Horror, Inc., told Deadline that “reuniting with Steve under a fully independent model allows us the creative control to honor what makes Jason the greatest slasher of all time.” Deadline also says the plan is to deliver “the practical kills and terror longtime Friday the 13th fans crave.” Practical kills. Say it again. Slower.
What we don’t know (spoiler: almost everything)
No title. No cast. No plot. No release date beyond “2027.” We don’t even know who’s under the mask, so please, for the love of Crystal Lake, stop tweeting that it should be your cousin.
What we do know is that Jason’s been busy without a movie. Horror, Inc. launched the Jason Universe in 2024, put out the short Sweet Revenge from Mike P. Nelson for the franchise’s 45th anniversary, and then came the Peacock and A24 prequel series Crystal Lake, with Linda Cardellini as Pamela Voorhees and Callum Vinson as young Jason. All eight episodes dropped October 15. If you haven’t caught up yet, now you’ve got homework.
My take
Not everybody’s thrilled. /Film’s Chris Evangelista wondered out loud whether this is partly about holding on to the rights, and said it might’ve been more exciting to hand it to a fresh director. That’s fair. I still don’t care. I’m a simple man. Give me a big dumb guy in a hockey mask, a lake, some bad decisions, and gore you can tell somebody actually built with their hands, and I’m buying a ticket. Probably two. One for my jacket.
And having the guy who invented the mask come home to make it? That’s a good omen. On Friday the 13th, of all days.
If you want to prep the right way, go back to where the mask started. Friday the 13th Part 3 is on Blu-ray at Amazon, with the 3-D version included, because 1982 thought everybody needed a yo-yo in the face.
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