Paramount Pictures has announced that the new Friday the 13th movie had been removed from its schedule, which usually means a film is looking for a new release date, but The Hollywood Reporter says that’s not the case here. The reboot has been completely shut down and is not happening anymore, at least not at Paramount.
With less than six weeks to go before filming was to have started, the studio pulled the plug on the film, which was going to open in theaters on October 13, 2017. According to the trade, production company Platinum Dunes and director Breck Eisner received word of the move earlier yesterday. Production was going to start mid-March.
THR adds that, while the reason for the shut down is unknown, one factor may be the poor performance of Paramount’s Rings, which opened with only $13 million last weekend. The Friday the 13th movie would have probably aimed at the same audience.
The new film features a script by Prisoners and Contraband writer Aaron Guzikowski. Platinum Dunes’ Brad Fuller previously spoke about where the script might take the beloved Jason Voorhees, saying:
“Aaron’s story has great characters. You kind of have to understand Jason Voorhees, so we go back and we kind of started over and work our way forward. Origin-ish, but it’s an origin that no one has seen before. Obviously Pamela’s there, but it’s a little bit different from what you’ve seen before.”
The Friday the 13th franchise currently consists of the ten original films.
