Steve Miner Will Direct a New Friday the 13th Film Planned for 2027
Steve Miner will direct a 2027 Friday the 13th theatrical film, financed independently by Horror, Inc., with Cineverse distributing in North America.
The facts come first below. My opinion follows in the section marked as opinion.
A new Friday the 13th movie is in the works, with a 2027 theatrical release, the film trades reported Friday, Nov. 13. Steve Miner, who directed Friday the 13th Part II and Friday the 13th Part III, will direct the 13th film in the franchise, from a script by David Fliegel. It is the first Friday the 13th feature planned for theaters in nearly two decades. The most recent film, a 2009 reboot directed by Marcus Nispel, was released by Warner Bros. and Paramount, Rolling Stone reported.
The new film is being financed and produced independently by the Barsamian family through their company Horror, Inc., which controls the franchise, Deadline reported. CatchLight Studios is the production partner, and Cineverse has North American distribution rights, including theatrical release. Deadline noted that CatchLight has production credits on horror films including A24's Heretic and the Sandra Oh film Umma, and that Cineverse has had recent success with the Terrifier sequels.
Miner is the director who, in the early 1980s, helped fix the look that later entries kept. He directed Part II, which put a machete in the character's hands, and Part III, which introduced the hockey mask, Deadline and Rolling Stone both reported. Those two features were released in 1981 and 1982. Miner said he "knew it would create a truly scary image that would work for that movie". "I had no idea that it would live on as one of the most iconic symbols in horror films", he said. "I'm thrilled to come back and continue the legacy".
Robbie Barsamian, executive vice president of Horror, Inc., tied the choice of director to that history. "For generations of fans, Jason's identity is inseparable from the creative choices Steve Miner brought to the screen", he said. "Reuniting with Steve under a fully independent model allows us the creative control to honor what makes Jason the greatest slasher of all time and deliver the definitive theatrical event that today's audiences expect".
Chris McGurk, chairman and chief executive of Cineverse, said "Jason is one of the most recognizable figures in cinema history". The company, he said, has "a proven track record of empowering uncompromising genre filmmaking and connecting it directly with passionate audiences", and is "honored to be a part of bringing Jason back to theaters where he belongs". Jeanette Volturno, co-founder of CatchLight Studios, told Deadline the company wants to make a "practically-shot film that is relentless, cinematic and terrifying".
Deadline placed the original 1980 film, directed by Sean S. Cunningham, as an independently made picture that cost roughly $550,000 and was acquired by Paramount in a bidding war. Later installments were released by Warner Bros. and its New Line subsidiary. Deadline said the films have collectively grossed nearly $450 million worldwide. In 2024, Horror, Inc. launched a broader Jason Universe effort. A Peacock and A24 prequel series, Crystal Lake, premiered all eight of its episodes on Oct. 15, with Linda Cardellini as Pamela Voorhees and Callum Vinson as a young Jason. Deadline, citing Nielsen, said the series generated 1.3 billion minutes viewed in its first 11 days and was Peacock's fourth-best scripted-original debut.
The trades did not describe the 2027 film as a sequel or a reboot, and they did not name a cast. Fliegel is an emerging screenwriter, Deadline said; Miner is represented by David Gersh of The Gersh Agency. The announcement arrived on Friday the 13th, a calendar coincidence the coverage noted. Other studios are also reaching for familiar titles this season, including a Broadway staging of Purple Rain in which Jordan Fisher will star as The Kid.
Opinion:
This is a business announcement, and it should be read as one. A company that owns a famous killer is hiring the director who helped invent the mask, and it is promising theaters another round of the same thing. The people making the film talk about a murderer as if he were a mascot. I will not do that.
Nobody has to be confused about what this franchise sells. It sells the hunting and killing of young people as entertainment, then treats those killings as a trademark. Adults can spend their money as they please. I will not pretend that a practically shot killing spree is a cultural good, or that children should be anywhere near it. The date of the announcement is a gimmick. The numbness underneath it is not. Report the contract. Do not celebrate the knife.
