Platinum Dunes Working on ‘Friday the 13th’ Sequel

“Friday the 13th” recently opened in US theaters, bringing the most death-defying slasher of all times, Jason Voorhees, back to life on the silver screen again. Now, Platinum Dunes and New Line Cinema are considering doing a sequel to the most recent film, one that would represent a new approach to the now-classic story of the dreaded killer, but all the details are not yet set in stone, The Hollywood Reporter informs.

In its opening weekend “Friday the 13th” literally killed the competition, coming out first in terms of box-office grossing, in what was deemed quite a surprising move. Even if the following weekend saw a drop of almost 80% in terms of popularity for the horror film, the movie studio is determined to push for a sequel, the same movie-oriented publication informs. Moreover, this would also be a good opportunity to bring something new to the long-running franchise.

“Sources saying that New Line and Platinum Dunes are moving forward on a new ‘Friday the 13th’ and that Damian Shannon and Mark Swift, who wrote the recently released reboot, beginning work on a script for a new picture.” The Hollywood Reporter says. However, word in the industry has it that this would be not so much a sequel as a follow-up, in that it will include the basic elements in the original franchise more as a “jumping-off point than as a template.” For horror movie fans, this can’t be but good news.

“The reboot drew from the first four pictures in the ‘Friday’ series, and producers are said not to be keen on the plot elements of the half-dozen movies that followed. And Marcus Nispel, who directed the latest film, is a possible but unlikely candidate to helm the ‘Friday’ follow-up; the director is believed to be fielding offers for movies across other genres. The wild cards are stars Jared Padalecki and Amanda Righetti; though both survive in the latest film and are considered rising young stars, they also are on hit TV shows (‘Supernatural’ and ‘The Mentalist,’ respectively) and their schedules could be too packed.” THR further reveals.

Until more details are made public regarding the “Friday” franchise, Platinum Dunes is also hard at work at yet another classic slasher, “Nightmare on Elm Street,” which the company is trying to reboot. In a recent interview, Brad Fuller and Andrew Form from Dunes revealed that bringing Freddy Krueger back to life was more challenging than they  initially expected – but they would do it nonetheless.