Tom McLoughlin is best known to horror fans as the writer and director of the slasher sequel Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives, which is widely considered to be among the best of the series. Now, McLoughlin is teasing those fans by confirming he has finally come up with a fresh new idea for a unique Friday the 13th film, and has even gone so far as to write the script. Appearing on the podcast The Pod and the Pendulum, McLoughlin confirmed he thought up a new concept for the next movie, only for the lawsuit over the franchise rights to kill his ambitions dead in their tracks.
From the podcast:
“Low and behold, I finally came up with the formula for what I wanted to do and things about six months ago, and wrote the screenplay. And now, I’m stopped dead in my tracks with the lawsuit with Sean Cunningham and Victor Miller, so it’s like I can’t even show it to the studios or anybody.”
Of course, McLoughlin holds back from revealing any details on what exactly he would do with Jason next, only saying it’s a fresh concept that still fits within the parameters of a Friday the 13th movie. Given how many fans of the franchise absolutely love Jason Lives, however, McLoughlin’s potential involvement in a sequel would definitely make a lot of people excited. This legal battle over the rights has to end eventually, and it’s possible producers will look at McLoughlin’s script for consideration.
Lawsuit notwithstanding, Jason Lives may soon be getting more sequels in the form of fan films. The popular fan film Never Hike Alone brought back Thom Mathews as Tommy Jarvis to pit the character face to face with Jason Voorhees once again, and the creators have confirmed their plans to continue the story in more movies. Because there’s no telling when the messy lawsuit will be officially over, fan films like these ones will be all fans will have for the foreseeable future.
You can listen to the full podcast with McLoughlin over at The Pod and the Pendulum.
Related Article: Friday the 13th: A Look at Jason’s Complete Video Game History
