Ken with some hopefully great news.
Like Jason Vorhees before him, Clint Ford refuses to die. Well, he refuses to let his prequel Friday the 13th idea die off. He's trying, you guys!
He penned an open letter to Victor Miller and Sean Cunningham regarding the unfortunate stalling of the series in their collective hands.
While i have no idea if it will work or not, you don't know unless you try right? It has great timing on its side with HALLOWEEN successfuly rebooted and talk on a new Nightmare rising to a fevered pitch. It wouldn't be right to let the failed goalie in on some of this action. Jason has one of the more interesting stories, even if he gets stuck at Crystal Lake for all his exploits (ok, venturing also to New York and Space). Drowning under the watch of sex hungry counselors, watching his mom beheaded, and then committing to kill anyone around his lake.
Clint let me read the prequel screenplay idea he had created a while ago and it was such a refreshing take. (Read article here)
Over a year later and there's been very little movement. Clint was asked to cut the screenplay down some and did that hard work. Any writer knows, cutting items away from your story is a tough task to fully commit to. It can affect further scenes and it's just a pain in the ass.
That led to another dead-end and here he is writing a letter. I'm sure he's hoping the response from the letter gets us talking and ya never know, right?
Here's the open letter:
Dear Victor and Sean: The Train is Leaving Without You
An Open Letter by Clint Ford
Okay, guys. It’s been a 40-year fight. But it’s time to shake hands and make up – for all of us.
We get it. Victor, you want acknowledgement and compensation for your creation, and you should have it. Sean, you’ve built the series into a billion-dollar franchise, and you should protect it. But you both have brought something incredibly important to the table that is bigger than you both. It’s now the size of a planet. It’s the size of us.
Ask any horror fan “who is the king of slashers,” and you’re likely to hear “Jason Voorhees” in reply. Why? Because he’s the king. He’s got the look, the build, and above all else – the motive. He’s the monster we both fear and cheer for. The one we love to hate. The one we’d least like to meet alone in the woods.
We all adore him and everything about him. Jason is every abused, bullied, unfortunate soul we’ve ever met, so we cheer internally when he sticks that ridiculously enormous machete in some entitled prick or bitchy snob. We marvel at the creative way he uses his environment for his kills. We even understand when he offs the geeky-yet-likeable camp clown. (Sorry, Shelly)
Jason not only deserves to have his story continued sooner rather than later—he also deserves to have his back-story told. This is something I took the liberty to do myself out of sheer compulsion. Last November, I completed my screenplay for Jason and Pamela’s origin story. Friday the 13th: The Beginning began to pick up a lot of steam. But every step of the way since, a new legal obstacle appeared. Now, Tom McLaughlin – director of Part 6 – has revealed he’s had a similar compulsion to mine and has penned a new sequel continuing the franchise’s story line.
Look around you. We’re all ready, guys. We have two polished screenplays ready to get this series going again. All we need is for you to play nice. I know, I know. You’re thinking, “Well, I am playing nice, but he isn’t!” Come on. We’re all adults here. We can find a compromise where everyone walks away happy. Forget lawyers, forget percentages, forget money – the fact is, no one can make this happen but the two of you.
So, this is on you, gents. You made something we all fell in love with, and now you must let us have more. John Carpenter just amazed us with his new take on the Halloween franchise and, more recently, Jordan Peele blew us all out of the water with his new horror franchise, Us.
Every month, more and more incredible horror films are being announced and released.
And every month, Jason is still sitting at the station. Just watching others board.
At some point, interest in what could easily become considered an “old” franchise will inevitably begin to wane – simply because it just took too long for you both to be reasonable human beings and work out something fair. Because of that, you’re not only punishing the other – you’re punishing all of us.
The horror train is pulling away, gentlemen – full of lots of incredible characters, story lines and filmmakers.
If the both of you don’t jump on it soon, the “greatest slasher” of all time will be left alone as that train leaves the station. Permanently.
And that would be the greatest tragedy of all.
Whether this letter will change their minds, i have no idea. If nothing else, it's surely pleading in a respectful manner to give Clint's ideas a shot. I would love to a see a more brutal Jason again. I still prefer him with a potato sack on his head making a poor teenager pee under the bed in fear he will find her. I do love Corey Feldman doing his best shadow Jason impersonation in part four but the second one will always be my favorite.
What about you? What's your favorite Friday the 13th movie and why?
Do you think this letter helps get this thing made finally?
Which would you prefer, a new Nightmare or a new Friday done properly?
Personally speaking, i want new visions like US, THE VOID (AKA THE BEYOND), mixed with reimaginings of those characters we love. I want it all. Jason Vorhees is one of the most iconic characters of all time. I'd really love to see him given the amount of respect Clint Ford's screenplay allotted him.
Pic courtesy of Kid-Eternity of Deviant Art
Til next time Kids
Ken Lewis (AKA: Freddy Beans)
See all me writings at www.freddybeans.com
