Reboots, Sequels, And The Future Of Friday The 13th Films

For over a decade, many of our reader's favorite horror films have been remade or rebooted to re-energize dead franchises so to not only reintroduce a new generation of film-goers to these properties but also make more money for the studios. Going all the way back to 1998, Bride of Chucky was such a movie. The film was packaged as a sequel, but a seven year hiatus and a complete change in tone to the franchise clearly signaled that Bride of Chucky was indeed a reboot. The film was successful in reinventing itself and went on to make Universal Pictures a huge profit.

The movie that really kicked off the horror remake boom as we know it today was The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Platinum Dunes remake was a huge hit both financially and critically. To this day, Chainsaw is one of the few remakes that received overall good reviews from the fans and critics alike.. Another remake that received great reviews from the fans was the 2004 remake Dawn of the Dead. In many ways, this writer feels that the film equals and surpasses the original. Dawn also opened to huge box office earnings and so began the long list of U.S. horror remakes to go along with the ever booming PG-13 Japanese remake and found footage business.

The real mystery, however, is where are all of the sequels to these rebooted or remade films? Very few times has a sequel been made to these jump-started franchises. Texas Chainsaw went the prequel route and a sequel was never made. The only major film property to make a direct sequel to their dug-up franchise is Dimension's and Rob Zombie’s Halloween.

So, with the next Friday the 13th film looking like it will be another stand alone film, possibly another reboot, will there ever be a true sequel in the franchise ever again? With Paramount having rights for up to five years to make new Friday The 13th films, will we see a true sequel to the new 2017 film in the immediate future? We hope so as fans really enjoyed the continuity in story-lines experienced in the earlier films in the franchise.