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http://www.joblo.com/horror-movies/news/lebron-james-might-produce-a-friday-the-13th-reboot-195
https://io9.gizmodo.com/lebron-james-could-be-responsible-for-the-resurrection-1829909932
Well, here's a rumor that's so out-of-nowhere that it might make you check your calendar to make sure we haven't jumped ahead to April 1st. Rest assured, this isn't an April Fool's Day joke: the folks over at Bloody Disgusting have heard that NBA star LeBron James and his production company SpringHill Entertainment are in talks to team with Vertigo Entertainment to produce a reboot of the FRIDAY THE 13TH franchise.
With original FRIDAY THE 13TH producer/director Sean S. Cunningham and screenwriter Victor Miller in the midst of a court battle over who deserves to own the rights to the first film and the characters and locations introduced in it, I'm not sure how it's possible that SpringHill and Vertigo could be discussing getting involved with such a project, but that's the word going around.
Cunningham's company Horror Inc. did recently release a statement saying they were developing something F13 related, something which wouldn't feature settings or characters Miller wrote about in the first movie, but would have the hockey mask wearing killer Jason Voorhees in it. Maybe this is what they were talking about, and LeBron James is going to help them bring it to the screen.
A judge recently ruled that Miller should be granted the copyright to the original FRIDAY THE 13TH within the United States, but that decision is not set in stone just yet. Cunningham had until the end of this month to file an appeal, and he did. So there are more court dates ahead.
To be clear, the rumor is that LeBron James would be serving as a producer on a new FRIDAY THE 13TH, not that he would have an acting role in the film... Although, that's not out of the question, since he has been getting into acting as well lately. He appeared as himself in the comedy TRAINWRECK and is set to reprise the role of himself in a sequel to SPACE JAM.
James has talked about being a fan of FRIDAY THE 13TH and Jason Voorhees in the past, and in 2015 even released a line of blood-splattered sneakers that were inspired by the franchise.
https://io9.gizmodo.com/lebron-james-could-be-responsible-for-the-resurrection-1829909932
These two titans of their respective industries could end up as partners.
Photo: Los Angeles Lakers/Paramount Pictures
The next time Jason Voorhees rises from the grave, it might be because of basketball superstar LeBron James.
Since moving to the Los Angeles Lakers, James and his SpringHill Entertainment company have been getting their hands on a lot of movie and TV projects. The most famous of course is Space Jam 2, but there have been documentaries, TV shows, and much more. Now, though, according to Bloody Disgusting, James and his team are looking to bringing back the Friday the 13th franchise along with Vertigo Entertainment.
That sounds like a wild, made-up rumor, but it isn’t. Deadline confirmed the story reported first by the horror site and James has long been open about his love for Jason. (Check out tweets like this and photos like this.) It’s the kind of project, especially after the massive opening weekendHalloween just had, multiple companies could be, and probably should be, chasing. io9 has contacted SpringHill for potential comment and will update if it responds.
The problem with all this is that the Friday the 13th franchise has been marred in legal trouble for several years now. That mess all but canceled a long-in-development sequel to the 2009 reboot; in recent weeks, a judge settled with original screenwriter Victor Miller, who was suing producers over his claim to the franchise. (It gets even messier when you realize Jason as we all know him wasn’t even in the original movie that Miller wrote.) This all could be over soon, though, as producers now have mere days to file an appeal to that decision. As for what happens after that, we don’t know. Who owns the rights to what pieces of the franchise? How many producers will get a taste? The whole thing is even more complicated than the Jason canon.
But maybe LeBron James changes that. Maybe his camp’s interest gives everyone involved some new hope. We don’t rightfully know. What we do know is, if everything works out, James could become a producer on a new Friday the 13th movie—and that would be an impressive feather in his already impressive cap.
