When it comes to Friday the 13th, it seems to be a case of “one step forward, two steps back.” There’s been talk of another film in the franchise for quite some time, drawn out by numerous delays in development, and those delays continue. While today brings word that Aaron Guzikowski, who wrote the impressive Prisoners with Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal, is in talks to sign on, director David Bruckner (V/H/S) has officially dropped out.
Variety was the first to report Guzikowski’s involvement, while The Wrap relayed the sad news about Bruckner. The former development is cause for celebration — though the film only earned one Oscar nomination, Prisoners received immense critical praise, especially for its performances and cinematography. Bruckner, meanwhile, deserves a meatier project with a bigger budget.
His segment from V/H/S, the vampire-centric “Amateur Night,” garnered positive attention, as did his work on Southbound. According to The Wrap, the Friday the 13th producers didn’t think it was fair to make Bruckner wait around while another script was being written. However, they reportedly have plans to return to Bruckner when one is composed should he still have interest and availability, so perhaps all hope isn’t gone for this partnership just yet.
Plot details surrounding the film are still under wraps — obvi because a new script is getting written — but it’s pretty safe to assume Jason Voorhees will once again rise to lay waste to some frightened teenagers with raging hormones or something like that. The Wrap does report that there won’t be any found footage this time around, and producer Brad Fuller teased that the film will go back to camp and might explore why Jason doesn’t die.
Michael Bay is producing (repeat, just producing) the film through his Platinum Dunes banner with Andrew Form and Fuller. Friday the 13th, the last installment having been released back in 2009, is scheduled to hit theaters on January 13, 2017. Funny enough, it’ll mark the thirteenth Friday the 13th movie.
