Producer Addresses 'Friday the 13th' Sequel

Producer Addresses 'Friday the 13th' Sequel

Voorhees expected to slash his way through numerous creative kills

By BRYANT GRIFFIN
6-16-2009
Source: HitFix

Audiences should expect ample inventive kills from the next "Friday the 13th" chapter, according to producer Brad Fuller.

Platinum Dunes is developing the sequel to the successful franchise reboot, which hacked its way to an impressive $40-plus million opening weekend.

Fuller acknowledges the dissatisfaction some fans felt with the reboot's uninspired treatment of Jason Voorhees' favorite pastime.

"If we're vulnerable on [the first film], it's that people thought our kills weren't clever enough, so whatever we need to do to make those kills seem clever in the second film is what we're going to do," Fuller said during an interview with reporters on the set of their upcoming reboot of "A Nightmare on Elm Street." "I don't think that turning him into a space-going astronaut would be the direction that we're going to go in...

"That's a criticism that really goes to my heart, that I feel like I've failed the fans if those kills aren't original or that they're not unique or grisly. You can read the comments and see where the truth is, and you can see as a producer where maybe that kill could've been better or we could've done something more clever here. However we can bring more clever kills to the second one, that's what we're going to do."

Despite the concerns from fans, Fuller and producer Andrew Form are proud of the reboot.

"We did love the movie," Fuller said. "It felt like the movie came out at a time where there were a lot of very down horror movies and upsetting horror movies and we had a great date, obviously and the movie, it was a party.

"You know, we went to theaters. We watched it. It was a party in the theaters. Audiences were screaming at it and loving it. It was one of those fun horror experiences and I think that for audience members who were looking for the same DNA as the original “Friday the 13ths,” they were very satisfied with that and for people who were looking to pick us apart, and there are a couple of those. ... But at the end of the day, I think it's a really fun horror movie and it's not so gristly that it becomes fetishishy and eliminates a good portion of the audience."

Returning to help entice audiences to the theaters are screenwriters Damian Shannon and Mark Swift. Will they place Voorhees in a snow-swept Crystal Lake as rumors have suggested? Or will the sequel's story be tailored for a 3-D presentation? Fuller is vague.

"'Friday the 13th Part 2,' we don't have a script, it's not green-lit, and we have no idea what's going to happen," he explained. "If it gets green-lit and we're able to mount it in a reasonable amount of time, we would hope the movie would open on August 13, 2010."

About the Author: Bryant Griffin is the assistant news editor for Airlock Alpha and sister site Rabid Doll. He served as a journalist in the U.S. Army, as well as while a civilian. In 2002, he joined Quantum Global Media Inc., contributing to many early design concepts before shifting his focus back to writing. Bryant hails from Tampa, Fla.