Jason Voorhees spent Friday the 13th doing two things he had never done before in the same week: turning up as a cartoon, and getting his original sequel director back. Steve Miner, the man who first put Jason behind the machete in 1981, will direct a new Friday the 13th feature, while a fan-made 2D short called Never Hike Alone: Ghosts in the Fog gave the hockey-masked killer his first animated outing.
Steve Miner returns to Camp Crystal Lake
The new film is being developed by Horror, Inc., the company that owns the franchise, together with Catchlight Studios. Miner directs from a script by David Fliegel, Cineverse will distribute, and Rob and Robbie Barsamian are listed as producers. The franchise’s public film listing pencils it in for 2027.
Miner is not a random pick. He was associate producer on Sean S. Cunningham’s 1980 original and believed in the idea of building the sequel around Jason, who was only meant to be a joke in the first film’s final scare. He then directed Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981) and Part III (1982), the 3D entry that gave the world Jason’s hockey mask.
Some numbers that put the comeback in perspective:
- The last Jason movie in cinemas was Marcus Nispel’s reboot, released on February 13, 2009. A 2027 release would end a gap of about 18 years.
- Miner’s last Friday film came out in August 1982, so he returns roughly 45 years later.
- The new movie would be the 13th feature in a series whose 12 films have grossed more than $468 million.
The film also lands in a busy season for the franchise. Peacock’s prequel series Crystal Lake, with Linda Cardellini as Jason’s mother Pamela Voorhees, premiered on October 15, 2026.
Jason, animated, on a fan’s budget
Ghosts in the Fog premiered free on YouTube on Friday, November 13, and runs about 10 minutes. It follows three friends whose camping weekend goes wrong when they get lost in the fog around Camp Crystal Lake.
It is the fourth chapter in an unofficial saga from Womp Stomp Films, the fan-run outfit founded by filmmaker Vincente DiSanti. The series started with the 2017 short Never Hike Alone, added the snowbound prequel Never Hike in the Snow in 2020, and grew into the feature-length Never Hike Alone 2 in 2023, where Jason Lives actors Thom Mathews and Vincent Guastaferro returned as Tommy Jarvis and Sheriff Cologne.
This time DiSanti co-directed with Juan Rivera, founder of Mexico-based Mako Animation Studio, which handled the 2D animation. The fan films are crowdfunded and released without charge, and each one carries an on-screen note accepting that the rights holders could object. So far they have not.
Why the timing worked
Friday, November 13, 2026, was the third Friday the 13th of the year, which made it the obvious date for both announcements. Badiyaa traced how the Friday the 13th superstition only took shape in the 1800s, long before Cunningham borrowed it for a low-budget slasher. Horror fans following the remake cycle can also read about this week’s other film and TV news.
No title, cast or release date for Miner’s film has been given yet. The next Friday the 13th on the calendar falls in August 2027.
Further reading
Image: Pikawil from Laval, Canada, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
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