Yes, that LeBron.
https://www.polygon.com/2018/10/22/18010868/friday-the-13th-reboot-lebron-james-production
https://www.polygon.com/2018/10/22/18010868/friday-the-13th-reboot-lebron-james-production
Almost 10 years after the series’ last entry, Friday the 13th looks like it’s the latest slasher movie to get a new installment.
Talks to produce this latest reboot are in-progress between LeBron James’s production company, SpringHill Entertainment, and Vertigo Entertainment, the company behind the recent Poltergeist remake and covert sequel to Blair Witch Project, according to reports from Bloody Disgusting that have been confirmed by The Hollywood Reporter. This latest reboot would be the second attempt at reviving the film series after 2009’s Friday the 13th, directed by Marcus Nispel.
Following that reboot almost a decade ago, the series fell into a legal battle that has seen the rights to the original script returned to the first film’s screenwriter, Victor Miller. The legal battle was fought largely between Miller and the producer and director of the original film, Sean Cunningham, who hired Miller to write the screenplay based on Cunningham’s idea.
While the rights to that original screenplay may have gone to Miller, the question of what exactly this means for the series as a whole remains unanswered. Because the dispute related specifically to the first film, which barely features the series’ famous hockey mask-wearing murderer, Jason Voorhees, it remains slightly unclear who owns the rights to the character, let alone who could distribute a Friday the 13th movie outside of the United States.
Cunningham’s original idea for Friday the 13th back in 1980 was created largely as a response to the runaway success of 1978’s Halloween, something that this reboot seems to share. It would appear that renewed interest in the series is in large part thanks to the recent success of the newest Halloween sequel, which opened in the U.S. last week to record-breaking box office success.
James’s production studio SpringHill Entertainment, has several projects currently in development, including the docu-series Shut Up and Dribble which focuses on the political lives of NBA players, as well features films like Space Jam 2, a star vehicle for James produced by Black Panther director Ryan Coogler.
