Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives writer and director Tom McLoughlin is so eager to direct another installment of the franchise, he's already written a screenplay for the next movie. This would not be a terrible idea for fans, as Jason Lives is one of the best installments of the movie series. The movie is notable for resurrecting Jason Voorhees following his death at the end of the fourth installment, The Final Chapter. Because fans were unhappy about the lack of Jason in the next movie, Paramount signed on McLoughlin to bring back Jason however he saw fit, resulting in the highly-beloved sixth movie. Fast forward to now, and McLoughlin is hoping to capture that lightning in a bottle once again.

Speaking on the podcast The Pod and the Pendulum, McLoughlin spoke about his desire to helm the next movie after finally coming up with a new take on the material. "I finally came up with the formula for what I wanted to do and things about six months ago, and wrote the screenplay," McLoughlin said on the podcast. He adds: "And now, I'm stopped dead in my tracks with the lawsuit with Sean Cunningham and Victor Miller, so it's like I can't even show it to the studios or anybody." The filmmaker stops short of divulging any plot details from his written screenplay, but stresses that it presents something new while still maintaining that Friday the 13th vibe.

The lawsuit Tom McLoughlin speaks of refers to what seems to be a never-ending lawsuit original screenwriter Victor Miller by Sean Cunningham's company Horror Inc. While a judge previously ruled in favor of Miller last year, the decision was appealed, stuffing it straight back into the court system. While it was possible the two sides could agree upon a settlement and end the legal drama for good, any such developments have yet to happen. At this stage, if the appeal from Horror Inc. fails, the next step would be trying to take it to the Supreme Court, and there's no guarantee they would be willing to hear the case.

It's a shame to see Jason rotting in development hell while the rights to the series are still being sorted out. Given the success of last year's Halloween and how much anticipation there clearly is for another Jason movie, it would seem that millions of dollars are just being left on the table. With 2020 marking the forty year anniversary of the release of the original movie, the timing is perfect to finally release the next picture. As it's been a full decade since the release of the last installment, we're now in the longest stretch of time there's ever been between Friday the 13th movies, and it's nothing short of a bummer not having the slightest idea as to when the next entry will finally arrive.

For now, Friday the 13th fan films like Never Hike Alone and Friday the 13th: Vengeance will help keep Jason fresh in the minds of horror fans until the next official movie can be released. Whether it's from McLoughlin or another filmmaker, what fans want most of all is just to see Jason Voorhees back on the big screen. This information comes to us from The Pod and the Pendulum.