Friday The 13th Rights Battle Deadline Could Bring Settlement Soon

The ongoing saga of the rights battle for the Friday The 13th franchise had an interesting turn last month as the appeal that Horror Inc filed in October 2018 to block writer Victor Miller from gaining the rights to the original Friday The 13th film was dismissed, leading many people (including me) to believe that a deal was near completion between Sean Cunningham and Victor. Since that time, there has been no deal, but today entertainment and copyright lawyer Larry Zerner posted on Twitter that it is possible a deal could come soon.

According to Larry, there is an April 12, 2019 deadline for Sean Cunningham and Horror Inc to refile their appeal, or the rights would stay with Victor Miller for the original film and the two parties would have to negotiate on future projects for the use of characters and locations. The deadline to appeal is an interesting one as it could force a settlement soon, before the deadline, otherwise, Sean and Horror Inc. may decide to prolong the process with an appeal in hopes of winning without settlement. The deadline could simply pass without a deal, but then Horror Inc. would have no choice but to either deal with Victor Miller on an ongoing basis for new projects or simply negotiate a deal to buy out Victor altogether.

In case your wondering about the timeline on the #Fridaythe13th appeal. The parties stipulated to dismiss the appeal but must reinstate by 4/12. So, that gives them 10 more days to settle the case.

That doesn't mean that they can't settle later, but it puts the pressure on. pic.twitter.com/1FLKQuea9a

— Larry Zerner (@Zernerlaw) April 2, 2019

As we found out last October, there are seemingly projects already in motion, which still include a television show and a new Friday The 13th film, which include Lebron James' Springhill Entertainment  April might be an exciting month for our readers, so stay tuned for the continuing story of the Friday The 13th franchise.