Entertainment - E! Online Movies
The "Freddy vs. Jason" Smackdown
Tue Aug 6, 1:45 AM ET
By Josh Grossberg
It's the bloodbath celluloid teenagers have been dreading for years.
New Line plotting Freddy vs. Jason
E! Online Photo
New Line Cinema has finally given the go-ahead to Freddy vs. Jason, the studio's long-planned but long-stalled match-up of modern-day horror icons Freddy Krueger of Nightmare on Elm Street fame and Friday the 13th's Jason Vorhees.
Robert Englund will reprise his Freddy alter ego for the eighth time in the project, which will also star Brad Renfro (best known as the kid from The Client), according to Daily Variety. No word on who will don the hockey mask for Jason, a role essayed by several actors in the past, most recently Kane Hodder.
New Line has tapped Hong Kong director Ronny Yu (Bride of Chucky) to helm the gory goings-on, which reportedly will revolve around Renfro trying to stay alive after getting caught between the two slash-happy ghouls as they duel to the un-death.
The battle royale, which should give new meaning to the term "faceoff," has been on the drawing board for nearly a decade. Ever since New Line secured the rights to the Friday the 13th franchise in 1993, the studio has tried to put two of the most successful (in terms of bloodletting and box office) movie maniacs on the same screen together. (The studio released all seven Nightmare flicks.)
It will be the eighth cinematic foray for the Fedora-wearing, Ginsu-gloved Freddy Krueger. Krueger boasts an impressive history of terror, having killed countless teens as a high school janitor before being burned to a crisp by a vindictive PTA. He first returned to haunt the dreams of sleeping adolescents in 1984's A Nightmare on Elm Street and eventually went on to star in six sequels, the last of which was 1994's Wes Craven's New Nightmare.
While going for maximum body count, Freddy will encounter some seriously stiff competition in that mute undead killing machine otherwise known as Jason.
Best known for stalking sexually active teens at summer camps throughout the '80s, Jason has technically wielded the sharp objects in the series' nine sequels (his mom drew first blood in 1980's original Friday the 13th). His blood lust has taken him from Camp Crystal Lake to Hades (1993's Jason Goes to Hell) and even outer space (this year's Jason X).
Such franchise monster bouts have long been movie fodder, going as far back as 1942's Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman. In the intervening years we've seen 1963's King Kong vs. Godzilla, 1964's Godzilla vs. Mothra, 1966's Billy the Kid vs. Dracula, 1971's Frankenstein vs. Dracula and 1979's Kramer vs. Kramer (okay, maybe not that last one).
In fact, New Line's announcement of Freddy vs. Jason comes just weeks after 20th Century Fox announced its own monster smackdown, Alien vs. Predator.
The most-anticipated of the recently green-lighted franchise showdowns is Warner Bros.' Superman vs. Batman, a project being prepped by Wolfgang Petersen in which the rival crimefighters butt heads after battling evil.
New Line will try to beat its rivals to theaters by beginning production on Freddy vs. Jason before the others. Cameras are slated to roll September 9 in Vancouver for a 2003 release.
The "Freddy vs. Jason" Smackdown
Tue Aug 6, 1:45 AM ET
By Josh Grossberg
It's the bloodbath celluloid teenagers have been dreading for years.
New Line plotting Freddy vs. Jason
E! Online Photo
New Line Cinema has finally given the go-ahead to Freddy vs. Jason, the studio's long-planned but long-stalled match-up of modern-day horror icons Freddy Krueger of Nightmare on Elm Street fame and Friday the 13th's Jason Vorhees.
Robert Englund will reprise his Freddy alter ego for the eighth time in the project, which will also star Brad Renfro (best known as the kid from The Client), according to Daily Variety. No word on who will don the hockey mask for Jason, a role essayed by several actors in the past, most recently Kane Hodder.
New Line has tapped Hong Kong director Ronny Yu (Bride of Chucky) to helm the gory goings-on, which reportedly will revolve around Renfro trying to stay alive after getting caught between the two slash-happy ghouls as they duel to the un-death.
The battle royale, which should give new meaning to the term "faceoff," has been on the drawing board for nearly a decade. Ever since New Line secured the rights to the Friday the 13th franchise in 1993, the studio has tried to put two of the most successful (in terms of bloodletting and box office) movie maniacs on the same screen together. (The studio released all seven Nightmare flicks.)
It will be the eighth cinematic foray for the Fedora-wearing, Ginsu-gloved Freddy Krueger. Krueger boasts an impressive history of terror, having killed countless teens as a high school janitor before being burned to a crisp by a vindictive PTA. He first returned to haunt the dreams of sleeping adolescents in 1984's A Nightmare on Elm Street and eventually went on to star in six sequels, the last of which was 1994's Wes Craven's New Nightmare.
While going for maximum body count, Freddy will encounter some seriously stiff competition in that mute undead killing machine otherwise known as Jason.
Best known for stalking sexually active teens at summer camps throughout the '80s, Jason has technically wielded the sharp objects in the series' nine sequels (his mom drew first blood in 1980's original Friday the 13th). His blood lust has taken him from Camp Crystal Lake to Hades (1993's Jason Goes to Hell) and even outer space (this year's Jason X).
Such franchise monster bouts have long been movie fodder, going as far back as 1942's Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman. In the intervening years we've seen 1963's King Kong vs. Godzilla, 1964's Godzilla vs. Mothra, 1966's Billy the Kid vs. Dracula, 1971's Frankenstein vs. Dracula and 1979's Kramer vs. Kramer (okay, maybe not that last one).
In fact, New Line's announcement of Freddy vs. Jason comes just weeks after 20th Century Fox announced its own monster smackdown, Alien vs. Predator.
The most-anticipated of the recently green-lighted franchise showdowns is Warner Bros.' Superman vs. Batman, a project being prepped by Wolfgang Petersen in which the rival crimefighters butt heads after battling evil.
New Line will try to beat its rivals to theaters by beginning production on Freddy vs. Jason before the others. Cameras are slated to roll September 9 in Vancouver for a 2003 release.
