The legal battle over Friday the 13th has been a long one, but it looks like it may actually be over. Friday the 13th 3 actor and entertainment lawyer Larry Zerner has been keeping fans posted as the battle over the rights to the classic has raged between Sean Cunningham/Horror Inc. and writer Victor Miller. According to Zerner, Cunningham failed to file a petition and that the rights belong to Miller.
It's 4 pm and I still don't see a cert petition filed with the Supreme Court in the Friday the 13th case. What does this mean? Well, it means the case is officially over and Victor Miller owns the rights to his screenplay in F13 (but only in the US). 1/
— Larry Zerner (@Zernerlaw) December 30, 2021
Can Victor and Sean just each make their own separate movies? Not really, because Victor only owns US rights and only to the first script and Sean owns adult, hockey mask-wearing Jason but can't legally use him in a movie without Victor's permission. It's complicated. 4/
— Larry Zerner (@Zernerlaw) December 30, 2021
So, what does that mean for the classic and the franchise? According to Zerner, unless the two come to an arrangement, we won’t likely see Jason again for a while. But do we really need to? Do we really need another reboot or crappy sequel? Miller could allow a studio to make a remake or reboot but Cunningham can’t make another Jason Vorhees movie without Miller’s permission and after the legal battle, that’s probably not going to happen.
Be sure to check out our interview with Vic Miller from a while back in which he talks about Friday the 13th and his latest film.
