‘Friday The 13th’ Reboot Loses Director, But The News Isn’t All Bad

The Friday the 13th reboot just ran into another bit of bad news after multiple delays.

Currently slated for a release of Jan. 13, 2017, the next trip to Camp Crystal Lake may get another pushback if owners of the franchise fail to find a new director.

David Bruckner of V/H/S fame, who was slated for the continuation (or remake, no one’s really sure) decided to pull out with no hard feelings after getting held up a time or two from the production schedule.

While producers are happy to bring Bruckner back for another installment once they get this reboot off the ground, CinemaBlend reports that they are now on the lookout for someone else to fill the chair.

Could that mean yet another delay in the scheduling? Yes, absolutely. But it does appear that the script is on the fast track to completion with Prisoners scribe Aaron Guzikowski handling the story.

Considering that Prisoners was on many short lists for best picture the year it came out, that makes the property an attractive one for any talented young director to step in.

Of course, the film has already run into a few story issues, which is odd considering that all the great Friday the 13th films followed a pretty simple “killer in the woods” formula.

Anticipation is high that Guzikowski will get things figured out in time to hit the current production schedule. If that doesn’t happen, however, CinemaBlend also has a second bit of good news to keep fans’ spirits up.

The CW Friday the 13th series that will be coming soon now has a half-synopsis, and it sounds like the network is (sort of) taking a meta-Bates Motel approach.

That isn’t to say it will be the story of Mrs. Voorhees and young Jason and the events that turned them both into killers, but it will focus on the real Camp Crystal Lake and “the events that inspired the movie.”

That means audiences could be seeing something very Jason-like but with an entirely new twist to keep everyone on their toes.

In fact, it’s possible the Friday the 13th series idea has more buzz to it than another film, especially considering the sheer amount of quality television currently being produced.

Producers are hoping to do the movie franchise more justice than they did with the 1980s Friday the 13th series, which, while compelling as an anthology, delivered something that was far too different from what fans of the series had expected.

The original show, which premiered in 1987, ran only three seasons and centered on antique dealers tracking down cursed items.

A popular rumor held that the original series finale would have had the three antique dealers tracking down the cursed hockey mask from the series, but the plug was pulled on that idea before it could ever tie the TV and film properties together.

Fangoria found no clear evidence that that was ever going to be the case, though the horror magazine did note that producers considered putting the hockey mask in the antique shop as an in-joke.

They never did, though.

Thankfully for many fans, this new Friday the 13th series sounds like it’s on the right path, though it is still unclear if it will ever cross paths with the film universe.

There’s also this little gem on the way (warning: NSFW).

https://youtu.be/UwwEraTseqU

So what do you think about the news, readers?

Are you disappointed that Bruckner is no longer on the project, or do you think this gives a better director the opportunity to take on the Friday the 13th legend?

And story-wise, do you think the team behind this reboot should dare to be different or stick with the tried-and-true formula? Sound off in the comments section.

[Image via Friday the 13th film series screen grab]