Friday the 13th slaughters box-office records

[Dom Duncombe]

Say what you will about horror remakes; the public certainly seems to enjoy them. This fact is evidenced by the opening weekend box-office for 'Friday the 13th' franchise reboot, Friday the 13th.

From Variety

Leading the charge was New Line’s redo of “Friday the 13th,” which grossed an estimated $45.2 million from 3,105 theaters to score the best opening ever for a horror title.

Pic’s performance continues New Line’s unprecedented winning streak, boosting Warner Bros., which now releases and markets all New Line titles.

...

Warners prexy of domestic distribution Fellman said “Friday the 13th” was “perfectly positioned,” as well as cleverly marketed.

Horror pics tend to draw decidedly younger moviegoers, but 59% of those turning out for “Friday the 13th” were over age 25 -- part of the generation that grew up on the franchise. The gender split was pretty much even at 51% male.

“Friday the 13th” also scored the best four-day opener of all time for an R-rated pic and the second-best Presidents Day gross after that of “Ghost Rider” ($52 million). The previous record-holder for best horror debut was “The Grudge” ($39.1 million).

Having seen Friday the 13th this Saturday (the 14th) I have to say that I was a little disappointed, as a fan of the franchise, the thing I really want to see when I watch one of these movies is just how outrageous, over the top and hilariously gory they can be. This reboot just seemed a tad too... pedestrian. On top of that the film was very inconsistent in that it didn't seem to know if it wanted to be traditional slasher fare or a 'Scream'-like post-modern take on the genre, for example the one black character made numerous references to being the only black character and how he would 'surprise' you, but then he just bought it like the black characters tend to do in these movies.

Anyway, this definitely will pave the way for more horror remakes. Love them or loathe them, they're on the way.

Source: Variety

[T.ROSS]

This is one of the best Friday The 13th films ever!!! I am a huge fan of the series! Seriously I am, I almost have all the posters to each movie framed at my house. I literly almost watch a Jason flick once a week. I think that the new remake was a stait up classic Jason flick, this reboot had all the ingredients of a Friday The 13th flick. There were many kills, humor, drug use and nudity. Jason had some of the best kills in this movie. Derek Mears did an excellent job on Jason. He just wasnt a man behind a mask, he gave character to Jason. I think no matter what this movie would have been or could have been, many people would come up with something negative to say. There are many fans to the Friday The 13th series, with many opinions. But all fans know that there wont be an end to Jason Voorhees, face it there would have been another Friday The 13th movie regardless if this one was done or not. Friday the 13th is the highest grossing horror franchise of all time. Thats because there is a huge fan base for Mr. Voorhees. This remake/reboot was a great addition to the series, I mean in my opinion a reboot of the series was a much better idea than a sequel. I mean the last Friday flick was Jason X, and the two before that one (Jason goes to Hell adn Jason takes Manhattan) were some of the least favorite out of the series, making a sequel was just too much, they took the franchise to whole different levels, a sequel was out of the question. Of course there are going to be people against a reboot of the series and they are going to be the hardest critics, but the majority of the fans problay crapped there pants when they saw the trailer for the film or just plainly heard about a reboot. The hardcore fans (like myself) dont want to EVER see an end to Jason Voorhees, I hope they continue makin Friday The 13th films for the rest of my life. I think that the same is for Nightmare on Elm Street as well. Freddy fans dont want to see an end to Elm Street flicks, he his another horror icon that will problay never see a franchise end. People crave Freddy just as much as Jason. Taking Robert Englund out of the picture is a hard step, and I think that there will be some hard core critics on there ass for this film. But I think that they are going to cast Freddy with some serious thought!

-T.ROSS PRODUCTIONS

[Angel Orona]

I could go either way on this one.  While I enjoy the series I don't hold it up there with such horror classics as SUSPIRIA or TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE.  I just hope its as nearly as much fun as the BLOODY VALENTINE remake which I thoroughly enjoyed.

On the other hand, as a screenwriter, it depresses me that based on these kind of numbers the remake processing machine will now shift into overdrive and the original horror film (Anybody remember one of those?) will become even more of an endangered species.

[T.ROSS]

I do see where you are coming from. I understand that Friday the 13th is not held up as a classic like Suspira and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. But it has made a landmark in horror history (one of the biggest). The movies can be so much fun. The new one stuck to the roots of the original films of the series. It was a classic Jason flick 100%.

Angel Orona have you not seen it yet?

[Angel Orona]

I will be checking it out very soon!

BTW -- One remake I've becoming increasingly curious about is LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT.  I saw the trailer with VALENTINE and found it pretty haunting.

[T.ROSS]

I will be checking it out very soon!

BTW -- One remake I've becoming increasingly curious about is LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT.  I saw the trailer with VALENTINE and found it pretty haunting.

yes very much agree with you my friend.