'Friday The 13th' legal battle to continue as Notice of Appeal is filed

October 19, 2018

With the 2018 Halloween making its theatrical debut tomorrow, Oct. 19, we can’t help but wonder about other slasher franchises, and if they’ll ever see the big screen once more.

While many of our fave slashers have been remade, one hockey-masked killer has been noticeably missing from the reboot craze. And, well horror fans, it appears that we may not see a new Friday The 13th movie hit theaters anytime soon.

Before we get to the actual news of today’s article, let’s go over some of the details of this ongoing legal battle:

As the Hollywood Reporter notes, Victor Miller, the original screenplay writer of the 1980 film, has been in a legal battle with Sean Cunningham, the original director and several of its producers for the creative rights on the project.

In the case, the producers claimed that Miller was a “work-made-for-hire” writer that didn’t come up with the idea. Cunningham allegedly came up with the idea after seeing the success of the 1978 release of Halloween.

While Cunningham and company claimed Miller had no creative rights to the project, the U.S. District Court ruled in favor of Miller, who now has won the copyrights of the cult-classic horror film.

Now, with this piece of information, you might think that the horror classic could grab its machete and hack its way into theaters, but that’s unfortunately not the case.

Per a report from Bloody Disgusting, and noted by entertainment lawyer Larry Zerner, Cunningham was given until Oct. 31 to file an appeal against the ruling.

This appeal, Zerner explained in a tweet, was a Notice of Appeal against the ruling, which would delay the process even longer: “Sean has until October 31 (irony alert) to file a Notice of Appeal. If no Notice is filed, then they made a deal. If not, the fight continues (for now).”

For those of you wondering about what’s next in the #FridayThe13th lawsuit (Horror v. Miller), Sean has until October 31 (irony alert) to file a Notice of Appeal. If no Notice is filed, then they made a deal. If not, the fight continues (for now).

— Larry Zerner (@Zernerlaw) October 17, 2018

The tweet was posted earlier in the week, and unfortunately, it appears we got our answer about the court ruling.

It looks like the process will be delayed yet again.

Zerner tweeted to his followers: “Well, Sean didn’t wait the full 30 days to file the Notice of Appeal, which I would take to mean that Sean and Victor are not close to reaching a settlement.”

Well, Sean didn’t wait the full 30 days to file the Notice of Appeal, which I would take to mean that Sean and Victor are not close to reaching a settlement. https://t.co/TO7cq1tdwv

— Larry Zerner (@Zernerlaw) October 18, 2018

So, what does all this mean?

With the notice filed, the two parties are still going to be in a legal battle for the rights of the franchise.

The original film was released in 1980, with an entire series of films coming after the initial release, including the most recent, Friday The 13th, released in 2009.

What do you think of the legal battle? Sound off in the comments below!

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