Friday the 13th creator says Jason Voorhees returns to the big screen in 2023

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It's been 13 years since the last Friday the 13th movie

Friday the 13th
(Image credit: Warner Bros.)

Friday the 13th series co-creator Sean Cunningham is defying all expectations and teasing a new installment for 2023.

In case you're counting, it's now been 13 long years since the last Friday the 13th movie, the underrated banger that is the 2009 remake. That's at least in part due to a years-long, messy legal battle between Cunningham himself and original movie's writer, Victor Miller. 

As Bloody Disgusting notes, in 2018 a judge ruled in favor of Miller and granted him rights to the original Friday the 13th's script and characters, while Cunningham retained rights to the character of adult Jason Voorhees and his iconic hockey mask, which of course became the face of the franchise following the first movie. The split in who owns what seems to be related to the fact that Miller only wrote the first movie, and it wasn't until the second movie that Jason Voorhees grew up and became the killer (it was his mother in the first movie - haven't you seen Scream?)

Anyway, Cunningham now says a new Friday the 13th movie is coming next year, though, he didn't officially announce anything. Rather, he quietly updated his Cameo bio to include this juicy little tidbit:

"Sean S. Cunningham directed and produced the seminal horror film Friday 13th, creating the iconic villain Jason Voorhees. The movie has spawned 12 installments with a 13th scheduled for next year."

It's a little surprising to hear that a new Friday the 13h could debut in as little as a few months, but who are we to deny words coming from the series' co-creator? Here's hoping it's as good as the remake.

Jordan Gerblick
Jordan Gerblick

After earning an English degree from ASU, I worked as a corporate copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. I got my big break here in 2019 with a freelance news gig, and I was hired on as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer in 2021. That means I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my home office, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.