Jason Voorhees is one of the most famous horror icons to ever grace the silver screen, with enough references in pop culture that non-horror fans could easily pick him out of a line-up. One would think that with such renown, Jason would have some kind of newFriday the 13thcontent in the works. However, due to an ongoing legal battle between two of the series' original creators, fans likely won’t get any new appearances from Jason in the near future. This also includes the content that was planned forFriday the 13th: The Game, which first released in summer 2017.
Friday the 13th: The Gamewas supposed to get new contentwell past its initial development, and there is currently a lot of unreleased content that the developers have to sit on until the licensing issues are resolved. With how slow the American legal system can be, it could take months or years before the case sees any resolution, and that’s bad news for fans. There have been rumors that the lawsuit will see some decision soon, but there have been no movements in the case as of writing. Until there is progress, fans of the game will have to wait and enjoy what already exists for Jason Voorhees.
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The Friday the 13th Lawsuit
Currently, there is a case being heard between the original screenwriter ofFriday the 13th, Victor Miller, and director Sean Cunningham, who is also a producer on more than one other entry in the long-running series. Miller claims he’s the rightful owner ofJason Voorhees andFriday the 13th, and hopes to use a provision of U.S. copyright law that lets an author claim their work after 35 years. This specific law has been used successfully by authors like Clive Barker, who attainedHellraiserrights last year.
Thefuture ofFriday the 13this sure to be a lucrative one, and this lawsuit has only drawn more eyes to the franchise. Whomever gets the copyright will receive any profits from licensing its characters, as well as residuals for the content that already exists. As one of the original slashers, Jason has been around for a long time and has died on more than a few occasions. After such a dynamic legacy that’s earned hordes of fans, it would be a shame for Jason Voorhees to die for good on a courtroom floor.
Halting Friday the 13th: The Game Content
In order for a game developer to make an adaptation of a famous character or series, they have to get licensing from whoever owns the rights to that intellectual property. In this case, it was Sean Cunningham who would have been given the rights to projects likeFriday the 13th: The Gameand the 2009 reboot of theFriday the 13thfranchise. He’s also the individual who would receive residuals fromFriday the 13th: The Gameand its updates, and would have greenlit any new Jason or survivor content that was in the works.
However, while the lawsuit is ongoing, there is no one who can legally allow the release of the IP’s content. That goes for anything that was shelved for release or is still in development, meaning thatFriday the 13th: The Game’s developerhasn’t been able to do anything but release bug fixes and server improvements.
This news is likely frustrating to horror fans who just want to see more ofJason in all his hockey mask-wearing glory. If the lawsuit is ever resolved, it’ll be up to the property holder to decide how to proceed with the franchise. Until a decision is made in the case, fans will just have to rewatch the movies and play the game in its current state.
Friday the 13th: The Gameis available now on PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
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