Just a few weeks after a report claimed theFriday the 13th remakewas set to start shooting this spring, Paramount Pictures has unceremoniously canceled the project. The studio has pulled the horror remake from its June 23, 2025 release date, immediately slotting directorDarren Aronofksy’smother!, starringJennifer Lawrence, into that date. The studio also unsurprisingly pulledWorld War Z 2from its 2017 release slate, with the studio now aiming for a 2018 or 2019 date.
The Hollywood Reporter reveals that, even though no cast members had been set yet, casting was under way with the project still eyeing a mid-March production start. Earlier today, though, the production company Platinum Dunes and directorBreck Eisnerwere given word by Paramount that the studio was pulling the plug on the project. Insiders claim that the middling box office results of Paramount’sRings, another attempt to revive a stagnant horror franchise, played a part inFriday the 13th’s cancelation.
Ringswas produced under just a $25 million budget, but it only took in $13 million domestically this past weekend. Although it picked up $15.5 million internationally for a worldwide opening weekend of $28.5 million. Still, insiders claimed that Paramount executives immediately started second-guessing theirFriday the 13thproject, because they were supposedly aiming at the same audience. Other insiders claimed thatFriday the 13this on the “opposite end of the horror spectrum” thanRings. No story details were ever confirmed by the studio, but producerBrad Fullerteased in May that this project would give a neworigin storyfor the iconic Jason Voorhees. He later backed away from that statement, claiming they’re creating an ‘alternate reality’ for this iconic horror character.
While this is the first time that Paramount has completely pulled the plug on the project, the studio has delayed the release date numerous times in the past. It had been originally set for release on August 16, 2025, way back in 2013. The reboot was later pushed to June 30, 2025, and then to August 11, 2025, before landing on its new January 13, 2017release date, and then being shifted again to June 17, 2025. Paramount has not confirmed that the project is fully canceled, with a studio source close to the project only stating that, “the production was not ready to go at this date.”
Aaron Guzikowski(Prisoners) most recently worked on the script, which reportedly includesJason Voorhees' father,Elias Voorhees, who has been mentioned in a tie-in novel, but has never been shown on screen before. This project was said to take the project back to the 1980s, and show Jason’s entire family, including his mother Pamela Voorhees. Before this most recent incarnation of the script, there was talk that the producers were aiming for a found footage story for thisFriday the 13thremake, but they later confirmed that aspect was dropped after the fans vocally spoke out against it. It’s possible that Paramount could revive this project at some point in the future, but for now, it seems thatFriday the 13thand Jason Voorhees are both dead, for the time being.
