It's taken a surprisingly long time for Paramount to officially hire a director for the next film in the ridiculously long-running “Friday the 13th” series.
“V/H/S” is going to end up being one of those things where people are constantly looking back at it as a pivotal moment for the directors of the various segments in both of the films. Already this year, we've seen one feature film from the guys billed as Radio Silence, and while I missed “Devil's Due,” it seemed like it had some fans. I thought their segment in “V/H/S” was enormous fun, and I also really liked the first segment, in which a bunch of guys who seem like the prototypical bros decide to videotape a night in a motel room with a girl they're all going to take turns with.
The director of that segment, David Bruckner, is Paramount's pick now to once again bring Jason Voorhees to life. Considering the approach that Paramount is reportedly taking to the new film, which we detailed in an article back in November, Bruckner makes perfect sense. As we said, this is being designed as a found footage movie, and it's an approach that Paramount's Adam Goodman has been pushing heavily while they were trying to find writers and now that they're bringing on a director.
There are a number of things I've heard about this film that make me nervous. I don't think I would call any of the “Friday the 13th” films high art of any kind, but I believe that any time you're making a film that's part of a series, you should treat that series with some respect. After all, there are audiences who are fans of that property, who keep turning out each and every time you release a new movie, and those audiences come because they expect certain things from the series.
If Paramount's going to make the film they're talking about, I want to offer a small bit of completely unsolicited but friendly advice. The last time you made a “Friday the 13th” movie without Jason Voorhees in it, it resulted in the least-liked film in the entire franchise, a movie that ultimately told the story of a really crappy ambulance driver. Please… the series did a great job of rebooting with the last movie, and Derek Mears made a great Jason. This isn't rocket science, but never underestimate the ability of people who own a franchise to completely not get what people like about it.
“Friday The 13th” is due in theaters Friday, March 13, 2015.