Why Does the Return of ‘Friday the 13th’ Have to Be… Like This?

Though previously troubled, the Peacock and A24 series Crystal Lake is now moving full speed ahead—Linda Cardellini will star as Jason Voorhees’ equally murderous mom, Pamela Voorhees—Friday the 13th fans are still longing to see Jason return to the big screen. The rights to the franchise have been in a legal tangle for years, with Sean S. Cunningham, who directed and produced the 1980 original, recently speculating that a new Friday the 13th movie is still a far-off notion.

That’s still seemingly true, but the first big announcement from the “Jason Universe” (other than its existence, which was revealed in May 2024) is indeed reviving our favorite hockey-masked killer. Just not in the way fans are maybe hoping for.

When it was announced, it was made clear that the “Jason Universe”—created by Horror, Inc., “the original owners of the Friday the 13th film franchise”—is meant to encompass “a wide range of platforms from entertainment, games, immersive experiences, merchandise, and more,” with “movies” notably absent from that list. So maybe we should be pleased that we are getting a film of sorts: Sweet Revenge, a “short-form vignette” directed by Mike P. Nelson (the 2021 Wrong Turn reboot, the upcoming Silent Night, Deadly Night reboot).

Sweet Revenge is touted as “the centerpiece of the franchise’s bold 45th anniversary campaign,” according to a press release. It went into production this month, and fans will be able to watch it eventually on the Jason Universe YouTube channel as well as… “a dedicated microsite hosted by Angry Orchard Hard Cider,” which is “sponsoring the vignette tied to a larger collaboration with Horror Inc.’s Jason Universe, which will continue to roll out for fans later this summer.”

Nelson is a solid choice to tackle a new entry in the Friday the 13th series; with Wrong Turn, he proved more than capable of breathing new life into a long-running horror franchise. We’re just not loving the commercial aspect, especially when it’s packaged with quotes like this:

“Angry Orchard fans love bold, unexpected entertainment—especially horror—so this partnership just made sense,” said Matt Withington, senior director of marketing at Angry Orchard. “It’s a perfect way to celebrate 45 years of an iconic franchise while creating new experiences for our drinkers in a space that they are already passionate about. We can’t wait to continue to bring the partnership to life this year.”

We get it—someone’s got to put up the bucks to fund Sweet Revenge, and at least it’s a company that professes to love horror and its fans. But it still feels a little off-putting, does it not? We’ll wait to see Sweet Revenge before we prematurely drown ourselves in Crystal Lake, but you have to imagine some level of product placement is going to be a part of this.

Friday the 13th fans, are you sharpening your machetes over this news?

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.