Steve Miner to direct new Friday the 13th movie for 2027

Jason Voorhees is headed back to theaters. A 13th "Friday the 13th" film, the first new movie in the slasher series since the 2009 reboot, is due in 2027, and the director is Steve Miner, the filmmaker who first put a machete in the killer's hands and later gave him the hockey mask.

David Fliegel, an emerging screenwriter, wrote the script. The Barsamian family, which controls the franchise through its company Horror, Inc., is financing and producing the film. CatchLight Studios is the production partner, and Cineverse holds North American distribution rights, including the theatrical release. The announcement did not include a title, a release date or any cast names.

Miner directed "Friday the 13th Part 2" in 1981, the entry that made Jason the killer, and "Part III" in 1982, which introduced the mask. He also directed 1998's "Halloween H20: 20 Years Later," so this is not his first time returning to a long-running horror series years after its peak. In a statement, he said he expected the mask to make a scary image for that one film. "I had no idea that it would live on as one of the most iconic symbols in horror films," he said.

Bringing him back is a clear signal about what the owners want: a film that feels like the early entries rather than a fresh reinvention. That reassures longtime fans, though it also carries the risk that the movie leans on memories of 1982 more than on new ideas.

An independent bet, by design

The most interesting choice here is about money, not casting. Robbie Barsamian, the executive vice president of Horror, Inc. and the producer of the film, told TheWrap in an emailed interview that the family "decided to go back to our roots and independently finance the movie."

For the Barsamians, that is literal. Barsamian told TheWrap that his grandfather and two friends owned movie theaters and funded and produced the original 1980 film and the seven that followed. His grandfather and father later licensed four more films and a 2017 video game. The first film, directed by Sean S. Cunningham, was made independently for roughly $550,000 before Paramount acquired it in a bidding war. Across the series, the films have grossed nearly $450 million worldwide.

The partners fit that model. Cineverse has had major recent success with the "Terrifier" sequels, proof that a gory, independently made slasher can fill theaters without a major studio campaign behind it. CatchLight produced A24 horror film "Heretic" and "Umma," starring Sandra Oh. Barsamian told TheWrap that CatchLight knows how to make a practical horror film "on a tight budget without cutting corners."

That looks like the smartest decision in the whole announcement. "Friday the 13th" was never a prestige series. It thrived because the movies were cheap, quick and built around inventive kills, and a modest budget lowers the bar the new film has to clear to count as a success. Cineverse chief executive Chris McGurk said the company was honored to be part of "bringing Jason back to theaters where he belongs," while CatchLight co-founder Jeanette Volturno promised a practically shot film that is "relentless, cinematic and terrifying."

A hit prequel opened the door

The long gap since 2009 was not about a lack of demand. TheWrap notes that the franchise spent years tangled in complicated rights issues involving several stakeholders, and those have now been resolved enough for new films, series and merchandise to move forward. Horror, Inc. launched its "Jason Universe" expansion in 2024.

The clearest payoff so far is "Crystal Lake," a prequel series from Peacock and A24 that released all eight episodes on Oct. 15. Linda Cardellini plays Pamela Voorhees, the mother of Jason and the killer in the 1980 original, and Callum Vinson plays young Jason. The show logged 1.3 billion minutes viewed in its first 11 days, according to Nielsen, giving Peacock its fourth-best debut for a scripted original. Mike P. Nelson also made a short film, "Sweet Revenge," to mark the 45th anniversary of the franchise.

The timing makes sense. A successful streaming prequel shows that audiences still care about Jason, and a 2027 theatrical release can draw on that goodwill while the series is fresh in viewers' minds. The broader horror market is busy too: "Halloween" and "Hellraiser" video games arrived this fall, and a new "A Nightmare on Elm Street" installment is percolating at Paramount Primal, according to Deadline. Freddy Krueger and Jason already shared the screen in 2003's "Freddy vs. Jason," and the two franchises now look set to compete for the same audience again.

Big promises and a planned slate

Barsamian made bold claims to TheWrap. He called it the scariest and most brutal film the family has ever made, with the most creative and bloody kills in the series. He also said the characters are more relatable, so viewers will actually root for them to survive. That would fix one of the chronic weaknesses of the genre, where the victims often exist only to be dispatched.

He added that the filmmakers "took fan feedback to develop a new hockey mask." That is the riskiest detail in the announcement. The mask is the most recognizable image in the franchise, Miner invented it, and any redesign will be judged against four decades of nostalgia. Barsamian also said he watched every shot on set, which suggests filming has at least begun, though no production dates have been announced. Producers always talk up their own movies, so these promises are a pitch until a trailer arrives.

Horror, Inc. is not treating this as a one-off. "This is definitely the first of many new films to come," Barsamian told TheWrap, adding that the movie will build story links that carry directly into later installments. He said Miner came in aiming to relaunch the series for the next 45 years, and that the studio paired him with a newer writer to supply fresh ideas.

Planning sequels before the first film opens has tripped up plenty of Hollywood franchises, where the setup ends up mattering more than the movie. This plan has better odds than most precisely because it starts small. An independently financed slasher does not need a record opening to earn a follow-up. It needs a mask that fans accept and kills they talk about, and that is a test Miner has passed before.