Friday the 13th Remake Update

New writers and a pre-strike deadline.

by | September 18, 2007 | Comments

Like the hockey-masked serial killer at its core, the Friday the 13th franchise refuses to die — and the series reboot announced by Michael Bay last year continues to lumber toward audiences, Jason Voorhees style.

According to a post published yesterday at Shock Till You Drop, “a reliable tipster” has passed along some new info regarding the Friday the 13th remake — specifically, that Damian Shannon and Mark Swift have been hired to write the latest version of the script, and that Bay’s production company, Platinum Dunes, is aiming to start production early next year.

Horror buffs may recall that Shannon and Swift were the ones who wrote 2003’s Freddy vs. Jason — but, given its 39 percent Tomatometer rating, they may not recall the duo’s work fondly. It’s still unclear whether Jonathan Liebesman, originally slated to direct, is still attached.

While it wasn’t a masterpiece, the first Friday the 13th movie had a certain low-budget charm which was sacrificed during the series’ increasingly ridiculous sequels, and it could arguably benefit from the reboot/remake treatment. Given the recent (commercial) success of Rob Zombie‘s Halloween, it isn’t hard to see why interest in this project is ramping up. Still, that whole “produced by Michael Bay” thing has got to make more than a few fans nervous.

Source: Shock Till You Drop