Basketball superstar LeBron James’ production company, SpringHill Entertainment, is teaming up with Vertigo Entertainment to try to acquire the rights to the Friday the 13th franchise with hopes of rebooting the series, according to Bloody Disgusting .
Insiders tell Page Six that Victor Miller, the writer behind the original classic horror flick, needed the support of both Vertigo and SpringHill to get the rights back. With both Vertigo and SpringHill involved, it’s likely that Warner Bros. — who distributed the latest reboot of the series in 2009 — would be in charge of the next release.
The film is still in it’s earliest stages, not even having a writer or director formally attached as yet, but it would likely focus on hockey-mask wearing mass-murderer Jason Voorhees hacking and slashing his way through unsuspecting teenagers at Camp Crystal Lake once again.
If the rumors are true, James’ company will be very busy over the next few months — especially considering that they’re also in charge of a much-anticipated Space Jam sequel.
Black Panther and Creed director Ryan Coogler is even involved with the film as a producer, according to the Hollywood Reporter .
James has been very complimentary of Coogler, telling the Hollywood Reporter that he “loved his vision” for Black Panther , which brought an African-American superhero to under-represented audiences everywhere.
“So for Ryan to be able to bring that to kids, it’s amazing.” James said.
‘Friday the 13th’ reboot in the works from LeBron James, Vertigo Entertainment https://t.co/pXEnAyuVgr pic.twitter.com/bafUOVwmPu
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) October 22, 2018
The possibility of rebooting the Friday the 13th series might be due to the recent success of high-profile horror movies.
Fellow ’80s horror movie franchise reboot Halloween raked in a whopping $70 million in its opening weekend, and Vertigo has had past success in the form of last year’s mega-hit film, It .
On top of that, James has not made a secret of his own love of the horror genre, particularly of the Friday the 13th franchise — relaying as much to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
“I’m a huge horror fan. I love horror movies. Obviously Friday the 13th being Jason Vorhees day, I think it’s cool. I remember as a kid on Friday the 13th right when I got home from school, my mother and I we would just watch horror movie after horror movie after horror movie. It’s crazy because now my kids love horror movies too. My two boys love them. When I come home they be wanting to watch horror movies. But no superstitions besides just having a great respect for some of the great slashers of all time, some of the greatest ones of all time. And Freddy (Krueger), Michael Myers and Jason Vorhees and Chucky and a couple more.”
James has also released ‘Friday the 13th’-inspired sneakers — according to SoleCollector — and horrified his 43.8 million Instagram followers with his Pennywise costume last Halloween. He has also publicly shared photos of himself wearing a Jason Voorhees-inspired hockey mask.
