Pay no attention to the jersey he’s wearing above. LeBron James is now a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. And one of the major reasons why he took his talents to Los Angeles is because he wants to delve deeper into the film industry. Now we see exactly how his delving is going to look.
The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that James’ SpringHill Entertainment is in talks to partner with Vertigo Entertainment to produce a new Friday the 13th remake. However, their version might not be starring the franchise’s famous machete-wielding maniac Jason.
There version will be taken from the original script for the 1980 original film, which the original screenwriter, Victor Miller, won the U.S. rights to last month. As any horror buff will tell you, Jason Voorhees wasn’t the killer in that film. It was his mother who killed all the counselors in that film in revenge. It was payback for all the counselors who let her son drown years before because they were too busy having sex with each other.
As per my understanding of copyright law from my days researching the Superman case, James and company would only have the right to concepts and characters introduced in that film. Which means no Jason Voorhees to kill an infinite supply of kids. The remake, and any sequels that might come after it, will have to make due with Mrs. Voorhees or a brand new character to take her place in future installments.
Another complication is that the suit that awarded the rights back to Miller is being appealed. If the appeal goes through, James and Vertigo might be negotiating the rights to nothing.
Just like how the original Friday the 13th came into being due to the success of 1978’s Halloween, the box-office success of the recent sequelboot to that latter film is the reason why James is interested in resurrecting the former.
