It's been in the works for six years and has retreated to new release dates seemingly every time the calendar draws near, however, the new Friday the 13th movie is very much alive and on its way back to the big screen. But it's been a long return road to camp. Nobody knows that more than Platinum Dunes producer Brad Fuller, the creative mind who helped bring 2009's Friday the 13th to fruition. And with the next Friday the 13th film due out on May 13th, 2016, Fuller looks to bring Jason Voorhees back to life once again.
Friday the 13th is understandably on the minds of a lot of the franchise's fans on this unique Valentine's Day Eve, and with the fan base being all ears on any Camp Crystal Lake news, Fuller spoke with Esquire about what he's interested in exploring with the next Friday the 13th film, including Jason's seemingly supernatural ability to always come back from the dead.
Speaking with Esquire, Fuller revealed his interest in diving into the reasons behind Jason Voorhees' supposed immortality, a curiosity initially instilled in him by David Bruckner, the director attached to helm the new Friday the 13th movie:
"There's always been this supernatural aspect to these movies. It defies logic that, you see Jason get killed in every movie, including ours, the 2009 one. And then he comes back and no one's ever really investigated what that is. So that's something that I think about a little bit. Like it is supernatural, but what is he? Those are the things that we're toying with. Nothing has been decided. But those type of things: How does he always come back?"
During the interview Fuller also mentioned that the new Friday the 13th film will not be shot found-footage style and will most definitely take place at a summer camp. Filming is expected to begin at an as of yet undetermined existing camp near the end of this summer.
Bruckner (The Signal, "Amateur Night" segment of V/H/S) is still in the director's chair, though the final script that he'll direct from is still not known, with the possible connection to the 2009 film also up in the air.
Though fans will have to wait over another year to see Jason Voorhees back in action on the big screen, it looks like a lot of thought is being put in the new Friday the 13th film. The way it sounds right now, Fuller and fellow producer Andrew Form seem to be cooking up a fresh installment that pays homage to the previous entries while also taking a unique angle into Jason's mythology. Only time will tell what kind of hell Jason will raise when he crashes camp next summer.