These 5 ‘Friday the 13th’ Films Were Almost Made And They Would Have Been Awesome

Sean S. Cunningham first began developing the first Friday the 13th film in 1979; I wonder if he knew just how much of a hit the story would turn into. Even though it’s been 35 years since the first film, the original and the sequels following still have such an impact on us.

Although there are a complete total of 11 sequels following the first film, there were so many more planned that never really came into fruition.

Below is a list of five Friday the 13th‘s that don’t exist, but almost did.

1. Jason of Crystal Lake

The entire purpose of this film was to appeal to a younger crowd of kids, and therefore had the intention of making it an anime to match the release of Kiki’s Delivery Service.

The plan was to tell the origin story of Jason Voorhees with Miyazaki attached to the project. Everything fell through once Studio Ghibli saw Miyazaki’s incredibly nudity-filled and gory last scene, there was a huge falling out.

2. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Krang Behind the Mask

After the failed anime attempt, The Mancusos and Paramount teamed up with New Line Cinema, Mirage Studios and Playmates to tie him with the TMNT. The plan was to have them fight Jason Voorhees.

Sadly, behind-the-scenes legal issues caused a delay in production. Test screenings also proved that young children were incredibly traumatized by the film causing a negative reaction before release even occurred.

3. Jason vs. The Punisher

Cunningham was still onboard with pairing Friday the 13th with another franchise to help get a little boost. He was given the rights to Marvel’s character The Punisher. Cunningham was even able to lock Dolph Lundgren to reprise his role from the 1989 film.

New Line caused the collapse of the entire project when they decided to spend less money and make it a straight-to-video release. Cunningham refused, and therefore the film never went anywhere.

4. Jason Kills!: Adjust Your Slashing

Inspired by the horror film Ringu, Cunningham was inspired to create a mash-up sequel in which a horror fan stumbles upon an unreleased and highly cursed Friday the 13th film at a yard sale. As happened in Ringu, the horror fan and his friends survive Jason coming out of their television sets by using theirFriday the 13th knowledge to defeat him.

New Line wanted a more science-fiction based script called Jason X. At the end of the day, this Ringu-inspired flick came across more as a Ringu rip-off.

5. Friday the 13th: The Crystal Lake Diaries

With found footage films being all the rage, Cunningham felt the need to jump in on the hype. His concept never even made it to the scripting stage, with fans complaining online that they were tired of this particular style of film.

While I think 11 sequels is more than enough to qualify this series as a successful franchise, I still think some of these ideas would have been insanely interesting to watch (I’m super down for the found footage Friday the 13th!).

Some of these ideas might have been a little ridiculous or strange, but you have to give Cunningham a lot of credit, as he wasn’t only a strategic man, but a highly creative one at that.

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