Any chance of a new Friday the 13th movie going into production is on the distant horizon, but there are other things going on with the Friday the 13th franchise now that the copyright lawsuit between the original film’s producer / director Sean S. Cunningham and screenwriter Victor Miller has ended with Miller gaining the copyright to the first movie in the United States. Miller and his lawyer Marc Toberoff have teamed up with Horror Inc., which is headed up by Robert Barsamian and holds the rights to the overall franchise, to develop a TV series called Crystal Lake for A24 and the Peacock streaming service, and last month it was announced that they’re launching the Jason Universe, which will involve “new Friday the 13th activations spanning a wide range of platforms from entertainment, games, immersive experiences, merchandise and more to be announced throughout 2024.” @JasonUniverse13 accounts were set up on social media and the official Jason Universe website was set up so fans can keep track of what’s going on… and some Jason Universe activity on X is causing fans to speculate that these Jason Universe projects could include a revival of Friday the 13th: The Game!
Friday the 13th: The Game was first released in 2017 and was really just getting started when the copyright lawsuit caused the developers at Gun Media to call off any further updates. New maps, characters, and game modes had been planned, and they all had to be scrapped. At the end of last year, Gun’s license to the Friday the 13th property expired and the game had to be removed from storefronts… but now comes the Jason Universe project to stir up hope that the game could make a comeback with updates that would make it better than ever.
We have to reiterate that there is nothing officially going on with Friday the 13th: The Game right now. This article is fueled purely by fan speculation and hope, and that’s all due to the fact that the Jason Universe X account has started following both the official Friday the 13th Game account and the Gun Media account.
Jason Universe is only following a handful of accounts, and most of them have clear explanations, as they seem to be tied in to the franchise’s present and future. They’re following A24 because the company is working on Crystal Lake. They’re following the video game MultiVersus because Jason Voorhees is a playable character in that game. Paramount+ because several of the films were made by Paramount, IGN and DiscussingFilm because they’re news sites (the Jason Universe announcement was an IGN exclusive), Call of Duty and Fortnite because there’s speculation Jason could be added into those games. Of course, they could simply be following Friday the 13th Game and Gun Media due to their past connection… but we hope there’s something more to it.
Another mystery: why is Jason Universe following Blumhouse? They’re not involved with Crystal Lake and there’s nothing going on when it comes to Friday the 13th movies. Blumhouse is launching Blumhouse Games, so maybe that’s the connection (composer Harry Manfredini has said that a new Friday the 13th game was in the works) – but if that were the case, why wouldn’t Jason Universe be following the Blumhouse Games account?
Beyond Crystal Lake and MultiVersus, we don’t currently know what the future holds for Friday the 13th. But Friday the 13th: The Game was a great game – the perfect game to go along with the film franchise, as far as I’m concerned – and it would be joyous occasion if it were to be revived and updated. If this were a possibility, it would also explain why Horror Inc. has been cracking down on free-to-play, fan-made revivals of Friday the 13th: The Game. If there’s no chance of the game returning, it doesn’t make sense that those fan games wouldn’t be allowed to exist, the same way as fan films are allowed as long as no profit is being made. It only makes sense if they were seen as competition…
You can watch the videos from YouTuber Alekos at the bottom of this article to get an idea of how excited fans are just to see that Jason Universe is following the game’s account and Gun Media.
Would you like to see a revival of Friday the 13th: The Game? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.
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