While Hodder admits to not knowing for sure, he's certainly a person with enough ties to the Friday the 13th franchise that he'd likely have a clearer than average picture of what's happening. Recently, Jason actor Kane Hodder suggested that as far as he knew, the lawsuit may have permanently killed the franchise. The popular Friday the 13th video game ended up being an early victim of the suit, as it was declared no new content could be released going forward. Audiences continue to lose out in the meantime, as the lawsuit has been dragging on for several years now, and while reports once suggested a resolution in 2020, that doesn't seem to have occurred. It's not hard to see why either party wants control since Friday the 13th has been a very lucrative franchise. Related: Friday The 13th: Jason Voorhees' Complete Family Tree Explained
However, Cunningham contends Miller wrote the script as a work for hire and thus isn't entitled to control the rights. copyright law that allows the original author to regain the rights to their work after 35 years, as has been used by both author Clive Barker and the estate of Wes Craven in the last few years.
This, as has become pretty well-known, is due to a lawsuit filed by Friday the 13th screenwriter Victor Miller against Sean Cunningham, director of the original and producer on some of the other entries. Unfortunately, it's now been an agonizing 12 years since Jason devotees got to see him swing a machete. Since 1980, the Friday the 13th franchise has been providing horror fans with creative and brutal kills, formulaic plots, and usually a healthy nose of naked people. Viewers neither want nor expect much else, as is evidenced by reactions to the times the movies try something too different.
#Friday 13th film franchise serial
Supernatural serial killer Jason Voorhees can never truly die, but it's been suggested Friday the 13th's ongoing creator lawsuit might've killed the series.