More Freddy and Jason Sequels Not Looking Likely

Posted by on January 31st, 2011   Filed under: Horror
Source: Shock Till You Drop

When Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes production company started acquiring the remake rights to a number of well-known horror franchises back in the early 2000s, their plan was to revive these classic characters and set them up to (hopefully) spawn another endless string of sequels, much like they did originally back in their heyday. Although they only managed a remake and a prequel for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, both Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street seemed to have a lot more potential for longevity; in fact, they were talking about sequels long before either these movies had even hit theatres. Now that the remakes have come and gone, earning some decent money as well, the question remains… will we see Jason or Freddy on the big screen again anytime soon? Producer Brad Fuller recently gave an update on the situation via Twitter:


“Lots of rumors out there. I want to set the record straight on freddy and Jason. First, let’s talk Jason. Shannon and swift wrote a great script. We are ready to go, when new line is ready. But as of yet, they are not ready. As for Freddy, as far as I know, there isnt even talk of writing another script. Rated R Horror movies, right now, don’t seem to generate interest from the studios.”

He goes on to say that Platinum Dunes is currently focusing on Ouija and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot right now, as well as a remake of The Monster Squad (which is currently being written by Mark and Brian Gunn). Time and time again we’ve heard about the potential death of the R-rated horror movie, but it never seems to hold true. If studios aren’t actively seeking out R-rated horror movies right now, then I don’t know why that would be… both Paranormal Activity 2 and Saw 3D did well enough last Halloween.

As for Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street, they were both successful as well, but their box office numbers were heavily front loaded, which means there wasn’t good word of mouth on them and the movies didn’t necessarily reach anyone outside of the hardcore horror fans. They were trashed by critics (no surprise there), but I think the real problem is that fans seemed somewhat disappointed in them, and the longer they wait to greenlight a sequel, the more quickly these movies will be forgotten. It may take another R-rated hit to change their minds again. Are you interested in seeing sequels to either Friday the 13th or A Nightmare on Elm Street? Which one would you prefer?



  • Nelson

    I saw the recent remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street and I thought it was pretty decent for what it was, BUT, it was so similar to the previous movies that it could have been, for all intents and purposes, just another sequel to those older movies. I think people are ready for something new and rehashing all of these old intellectual properties appeals to some, but probably not as many as the studios would prefer.

    I’m still holding out for something similiar to Silence of the Lambs. I’m not a fan of gore and stuff like that, but I can appreciate a “smart” scary film that doesn’t need blood and guts to get my heart beating.

  • rjdelight

    I’m willing to bet that TRUE sequels to the original franchises would have fared better that these so called reboots.

  • Juan

    The recent A Nightmare on Elm Street reboot sucked big time. The new “freddy” was lame.. you cant replace Robert Englund, is that simple.

    As for Friday 13th, it was alright, nothing special.

  • “…both Paranormal Activity 2 and Saw 3D did well enough last Halloween.”

    Actually, “Saw 3D” did pretty shitty business. Wasn’t it the second lowest grossing installment of the franchise? Minus the extra cost for 3-D tickets, it probably did about the exact same business as the one before it. I admire that Lionsgate is able to keep those films profitable (they found a formula and stuck to it mostly), but it’s probably the least new-viewer-friendly series there is, so hopefully 3D IS the final installment…until the inevitable re-boot in a few years.

    I thought the Nightmare re-make was OK at the time, but on second thought, aside from it being a new origin story (and not even a NEW new origin so much), a sequel to this one may as well just be a sequel in the original series, which someone else mentioned.

    I liked Friday the 13th quite a bit, but I almost get the feeling that they did too much in the remake. We get to see Jason wearing the sack, we get the introduction of the hockey mask, some decent kills, a look into Jason’s world that we never saw before (Tunnels that let him appear anywhere DO make quite a bit of sense), but now what? More than Nightmare, it played like a greatest hits compilation. If they can find a way to raise the stakes and send the army after him or something (like the beginning of Jason Goes to Hell), it could be interesting. While the New Line installments of the Friday the 13th franchise were pretty ridiculous, they at least tried to do something different, whether it was sending him to hell, sending him to space, or sending him to Elm Street.

  • rjdelight

    I’d love to see the oft rumored Freddy vs. Jason sequel.

  • Darth_Siskel

    The Monster Squad?! How in the hell is that supposed to work?
    The Monster Squad was about a bunch of teens/pre-teens kids who love the original Universal Monster Movies.
    Name one 13year old from this day and age who even knows who Boris Karloff is…
    it’s OK. I ‘ll wait…..

  • swarez

    @Darth_Siskel
    I would assume that they would update the monsters to something similar to Freddy and Jason.

  • Kasper

    Seen both of the remakes and especially the new Friday The 13th was excruciatingly bad. The two new Texas flicks was far bad, although nothing amazing.

  • Kasper

    far better*

  • swarez

    Yeah I really liked the TCM remake. Can’t remember much from the sequel to that.
    F13 remake, total fucking shit. Nightmare, way to glossy and way too much pointless CGI.

  • One thing that COULD have made the Nightmare remake a little interesting, at least in terms of mixing up the origin a little, was that they teased that maybe Freddy was innocent when he was still alive. They make it look possible for a minute, but when the kids jump on that idea IMMEDIATELY, you know that they aren’t going to go that way. Forty-five minutes later and “Blah, blah, blah, oh my God, Freddy DID do it!”. Yeah, no shit, huh?

  • Brendan

    Sean, you missed an opportunity with the title of the post. It could have been “More Freddy and Jason Sequels Not BLOODY Likely!”
    Get it? Bloody? Eh? Like blood is present in their horror movies, but “bloody” also meaning “very” like the Brits say! Eh? Get it now?

  • Dave

    Platinum Dunes is officially the franchise killer. I’m really nervous that they are making a Ninja Turtle movie.

  • Damn, Freddy vs Jason kicked fuckin’ ass! Friday reboot was good, Freddy-reboot was good as a horror flick, not as a Freddy-flick. (Englund is needed for that) But Freddy vs Jason sequel, now that’s something we need!