To start us off in the “Fanboy 13” story, we’re gonna need a little bit of context before I get to the actual meat of this article. For the past few years there has been a ruthless legal battle going on about who owns the rights to the “Friday the 13th” franchise. It’s between the Plaintiff: Horror Inc.(a Massachusetts Corporation) and The Manny Company (a Connecticut Limited Partnership) vs the Defendant: Victor Miller, the screenwriter for the first “Friday the 13th” film.
Long story short (thus far) is that the judge granted Victor Miller copyright and ownership of everything in the script for the first movie in the United States ONLY. The international rights for it are murky. I’m not fully sure how this all works so I’m not gonna speculate on that. My current understanding of the situation is that Horror Inc. and The Manny Company still own the Hockey Mask Faced Killer Man, but would be unable to use any of the names, places, or people that originated in the first movies script. This means that the characters from every single Friday the 13th movie made after the first one are owned by Horror Inc. and The Manny Company and could still be used in future installments of some kind of spiritual successor. I’m probably getting something in here wrong but after reading the plethora of court documents about this case online my brain is goo and I’m even more confused than when I went in. It wasn’t even in the language of the documentation, I understood that, it’s just such a huge debacle full of how complicated the rights have become, For more information you should probably ask the man who gave Jason his mask: Shelly from “Friday the 13th Part 3,” his real name being Larry Zerner. He’s now an entertainment lawyer and has been giving regular updates on the court case for those interested in how it’s shaping up.
With all these lawsuits, countersuits, and appeals going on, we (the fans) haven’t had any new Friday the 13th content since the suits forced the Friday the 13th: The Game to stop production somewhere in mid to late 2018. No Uber Jason or Grendel map for the fans! There hasn’t been a Friday the 13th movie in a decade. That’s the longest the series has ever stayed dormant in its nearly 40 year existence.
Luckily there is a light in this weird legal tunnel of darkness. One of the actors, Deborah Voorhees, who played Tina in “Friday the 13th: A New Beginning,” has gotten into the director’s chair herself to make something new, different, and a love letter to “Friday the 13th”. She understands the fanbase and their voracity for a new F13 movie so has taken it upon herself to make something in a similar vein of 80s slashers using fully practical effects, and a bevy of actors from the series. It will combine the slasher style with thrillers such as “Hush,” and “Cape Fear.”
The film is called “13 Fanboy” and it’s about an obsessed fan who stalks with the intent to kill his favorite actresses from the franchise. When she was a child, the main character Kelsie, witnesses the murder of her grandmother, a Friday the 13th actress at the hands of a crazy fanboy. Some years go by and as an adult, she discovers her grandmother isn’t the only victim and finds herself battling to save the life of her grandmother’s best friend, who also happens to be an actress from Friday the 13th. Due to her interference, she is now being targeted by the killer.
The all-star cast includes: Dee Wallace, star of “Cujo,” and “ET”. Corey Feldman, star of “F13: The Final Chapter”, “Tales From the Crypt: Bordello of Blood,” and of course the classic “Goonies”. Kane Hodder, whom many consider to be the definitive Jason from F13 pts 7-10, as well as the game from 2016. CJ Graham who also played Jason for F13 pt 6: Jason Lives. Thom Mathews, yet another fantastic actor from F13 pt 6, who played the adult Tommy Jarvis, and was also in the cult classic “Return of the Living Dead”. Judie Aronson, who played Samantha in “F13: The Final Chapter”. Tracie Savage, who played Debbie from “Friday the 13th Part 3” Ron Sloan, Junior from Part 5 and Carol Locatell, Ethel from Part 5. Deboarah Voorhees, will also be playing a role along with directing of course, she’s a woman of many talents! Vincente DiSanti and Andrew Leighty from the F13 fan film, “Never Hike Alone” are also involved. To be introduced in this movie is Hayley Reece Greenbauer, she’s set to be one of the leading ladies.
In the music department we have another Friday the 13th alumnus, Ari Lehman, child Jason in the first movie. He has a rock band called First Jason, their song “Victim” will be used in the film. Helping to round out the music department is Michale Graves, former lead singer of The Misfits. He will have a role in the film as well!
As if all of these amazing actors weren’t enough, as of yesterday, 04/19/2019, it’s been announced that the first final girl of the F13 franchise is joining the film, Adrienne King! Alice!! The cast that has been assembled is downright astounding, AND IT’S STILL GROWING. This movie is shaping up to be one of the biggest assemblies of actors from the Friday the 13th franchise that isn’t a documentary!
Please help support this film, they have an IndieGoGo campaign going on right now, “13 Fanboy” and it’s gone INDEMAND! The more money they raise, the more actors they can hire to appear, and the better effects they’ll be able to create!
