If you had high hopes that the Jason Universe panel at San Diego Comic-Con would address “the elephant in the room,” as Horror Inc. executive Rob Barsamian called it—well, it did indeed do that. But as of now, there’s no concrete news to report about a new Friday the 13th film. Yet.
“After 45 years, we wanted another 45 years,” Barsamian said from the stage, referencing the fact that the original Friday the 13th was released in 1980. “And we hear you loud and clear. We’re doing everything we can to push the envelope and go in a lot of directions…we have a lot coming next. And it’s just gonna keep coming and coming and coming. […] I know everyone wants that big elephant in the room, right, and we’re going to get there. So we’re just going to keep going until we give you what you want.”
Later in the panel, Barsamian’s son (and fellow Horror Inc. exec) Robbie echoed that sentiment. “I can tell you that a new sequel movie [and a] new sequel game are at the top of our list. It’s where most of our energy is going right now. And I can finally tell you we’re in a position to deliver on that. We’re not officially announcing with our partners today, [but] both are in the works and coming.”
That’s an encouraging update for fans who’ve been patiently waiting for the next Friday the 13th movie while the series untangled its complicated rights issues. But even without movie details to share, the Jason Universe folks still had plenty to announce. Horror Inc. CMO Sheri Conn emphasized the company wants “to bring everyone’s favorite slasher back into the spotlight. We’ve been working for the last few years really hard behind the scenes to bring new entertainment, gaming, theme park experiences, collectibles, collabs—bring it all back to life.”
“We really hope that you all feel like it’s been worth the wait once you see what we’ve been cooking up,” she continued. “We’re working with partners who are also huge fans of Jason and the franchise, who share our vision of making sure that we honor what was so iconic [about Friday the 13th]…but also will help us expand and evolve our storytelling in lots of different ways.”
To that end, panel attendees got a very quick peek at Peacock and A24’s Crystal Lake prequel TV show, with a video message from showrunner Brad Caleb Kane. The show is still filming, so there wasn’t much footage to show besides some behind-the-scenes shots, but he promised practical effects, gore galore, and a wider lens on Camp Crystal Lake and the surrounding town as well.
SDCC attendees also got the first look at the trailer for Sweet Revenge, a 13-minute vignette created by Mike P. Nelson (who also has the Silent Night, Deadly Night remake coming up). Nelson was on the panel and is clearly a huge Friday the 13th nerd, which explains why the tone of this clip feels so perfectly calibrated. Here’s the trailer, which went online after the panel:
You can get a quick glimpse of Jason’s previously revealed new mask in action there. It was designed by Greg Nicotero (The Walking Dead), and yes, it’s still a hockey mask, but diehard horror heads might notice subtle differences in this version.
The short film will be posted on the Jason Universe YouTube channel starting August 13—which is not a Friday, alas, but has a spooky ring to it anyway.
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