Not for the first time, Paramount has announced plans to shuffle its slate of upcoming horror films, bumping long-in-development sequel Rings for the third and surely final time. It’ll now open on February 3, 2017 instead of October, which is the fourth release date reserved for F. Javier Gutiérrez nerve-shredding pic, though it wasn’t the only movie to receive a new due date today.
That’s because Paramount’s long-gestating Friday the 13th reboot, one that has seemingly been through the wringer since emerging three years back, has been hit with a nine-month delay, meaning that the franchise revival will now shuffle onto the silver screen on October 13, 2017. First reported by Variety, no formal reason was disclosed at the time of going to press, but we’ll update this post if and when the studio breaks its silence.
As mentioned before, this is by no means the first time that Paramount has delayed both films simultaneously, which doesn’t necessarily bode well, particularly when you consider that after the unveiling of August’s spooky first trailer, we were only one month shy of Samara returning to the fold.
With Friday the 13th, it’s a different, slightly more complicated story. Beyond Platinum Dunes producer Brad Fuller, the production has become something of a revolving door in recent years, losing talent almost as quickly as they became attached. Last we reported, Breck Eisner was being eyed to direct and so far as we can tell, that remains the case.
So, there you have it; 2017 will herald a one-two punch of horror sequels/reboots from Paramount, but they’ll both be arriving a little later than planned. Rings will kick things off with a jump-scare or three when Gutiérrez’s pic opens on February 3, before cinema’s favorite hockey-masked psychopath Jason Voorhees will finally – finally! – stalk theaters come October 13, 2017. And yes, that’s a Friday, in case you were wondering.