Jason Universe is Making Me Lose Interest in the Future of ‘Friday the 13th’
As a lifelong fan, it’s disheartening.
updated on
Recently Variety told the world about a new Friday the 13th “vignette” being created by Jason Universe. Though seeing Jason Voorhees officially killing again should have been a cause for rejoicing, it actually bummed me out. Why? Because the short film is already dripping with corporate ickiness. But let me back up before I go too far into that specific rant.
In the Beginning
I’ve been skeptical about Jason Universe since the beginning. The corporate jargon used in the initial announcement in May of 2024 raised all kinds of red flags for me. Instead of any promise of new films, we were promised “activations.” In marketing terms, a brand activation is “the art of driving consumer action through brand interaction and experiences.” So even though we were promised merchandise, games, experiences, entertainment, and such, it really sounds like the focus was less on giving fans what they want, and more about creating things that consumers will pay for. You might say those are both the same thing, but they aren’t. Intent matters.
The fact that the original announcement specifically didn’t mention movies as one of its priorities made me feel like Jason Universe would just be a pipeline for using Jason’s image on merch and in various branding across social media and multimedia platforms. There are legal reasons why movies aren’t on the table, but that’s part of the problem. So essentially, Jason Universe seemed like it’s just using Jason as a marketing icon with no substance behind it. Selling the brand as the product itself. To put it more cynically, Jason Universe seemed like a platform created to chase the money of a built-in, lifelong fanbase. In the year since the launch of Jason Universe, I haven’t seen anything that counters my initial skepticism.
What Have We Gotten?
Let’s look at some examples. Jason will be used in Halloween Horror Nights later this year. Cool. That seems like a fun and nostalgic thing to do. We’ve also gotten some new merchandise. Okay. And toys. Why not. Jason also got a new mask (it has fewer holes in it), and a new overall design (that looks amazingly bland). Um, sure. That’s cool if you’re into it, but what about new stories? At the end of the day, I assume most of us became fans because of the movies.
The Vignette/Commercial
That brings me back to the “vignette.” The short will be titled “Sweet Revenge,” and it will be sponsored by Angry Orchard Hard Cider as part of a “larger collaboration with the franchise.” The final product (emphasis on product) will be streamed simultaneously on YouTube and a site hosted by Angry Orchard. I mean, I can’t help but think that “Sweet Revenge” was inspired directly by the involvement of Angry Orchard, a sweet adult beverage. Corporate synergy at its most obvious.
I understand product placement. It’s fine. I know movies and short films are expensive. I’m not oblivious to the need for funding. But “Sweet Revenge” sounds like a commercial, and the fact that the official announcements try to modify language to make it not sound like a commercial makes me even more resistant to it. It’s not a commercial, it’s a “vignette.” It just feels disingenuous at best, and it’s the latest instance of something that makes me less likely to be interested in anything Jason Universe rolls out in the future.
Skepticism Remains
To be fair, we will eventually be getting some new live-action material. The prequel series Crystal Lake recently started production. As a general rule I’m not the biggest fan of prequels, but they can be amazing. I’ll definitely give Crystal Lake a chance, though I’ll be keeping my expectations low. It’s just, with the approach Horror Inc. has taken to Jason Universe, I remain skeptical.
Even if they were somehow able to get everyone on board and do a full Friday the 13th film reboot (it’d probably be a legacy sequel of some sort given modern studio thinking), I’d still have my doubts. Even though the writer of the first movie’s script, Victor Miller, is involved, it feels like Jason Universe is cannibalizing a beloved horror icon for money first, and for fans maybe a distant second.
And hey, I know that the origin of the franchise is based on the exploitation of an emerging trend. As Sean Cunningham himself has said, he came up with the idea of a movie titled Friday the 13th because he thought the title would be enough to sell the picture, especially in the wake of the success of Halloween (1978). He didn’t even have a story until after he put an ad in Variety announcing the film. Friday the 13th began as a money-first proposition, but people fell in love with the stories. The stories then led to money which led to more stories, and so on.
Jason Universe also appears to be money-first, but the stories, new stories, don’t seem terribly important. There are surely still legal entanglements preventing a full, official return of the film franchise, but that doesn’t mean that Jason Universe should be the only option.
Jason Universe feels like a cold corporate entity. If it were about the fans, they wouldn’t be giving us commercials as entertainment. Churned-out content to merely keep the brand alive. But the franchise isn’t alive in Jason Universe. It’s on life support. It’s a shell of nostalgia that’s hollow on the inside. Jason Voorhees lives in the hearts of fans (ugh, I didn’t mean to allude to Jason Goes to Hell, but I guess I did). Maybe some people want merch and “activations,” but I need something more substantial. Otherwise, what’s the point? Create a completely new property if you don’t have interest in continuing the property you own.
That’s why I’m losing interest in the future of Friday the 13th.
