Blumhouse is obviously one of the bigger names in studio-made horror films and it doesn’t sound like they’re in any mood to end that string of success. What’s interesting are some of the various IP they’ve been trying to secure over the years such as their long-gestating live-action remake of the Image Comics character “Spawn.” A government assassin that becomes a soldier in Hell’s army, aka, a Hellspawn after a brutal execution at the hands of his black ops handlers. His last request is to return to Earth to see his wife one last time only to become a violent protector that goes up against the mob, crooked cops, fellow assassins, and even angelic killers working on behalf of Heaven to eliminate the latest incarnation of the Hellspawn.

At one point, comic book creator and rights holder Todd McFarlane was hoping to make his feature film debut as a director on the remake he had been personally developing internally with the aim to have Jamie Foxx in the role of Al Simmons/Spawn and Jeremy Renner as the persistent/logical police detective Twitch. Of course, since then, both actors have had their medical issues/recoveries, and remains to be seen if they’ll ultimately end up doing the film.

However, Jason Blum, the head of the studio, suggested a release window to ComicBook for the project that suggests they might finally be gearing up to get cameras rolling sometime next year and potentially have the remake in theaters by 2025.

“2025 is when Spawn is going to come out. I stand by that,” Blum said of the status of their “Spawn” remake.

While that determination to get the movie made and in theaters by 2025 is certainly ambitious, we still don’t know if they’ll be going for a more faithful comic book adaptation (minus the villains and supporting characters they’ve lost the rights to) or will go the low-budget horror film route that McFarlane originally intended. Since the project has undergone various rewrites. Also, we’re still not entirely sure who is actually going to direct it. There have been signs more recently that McFarlane could step aside from that role, but it’s not exactly official if that is happening.

“Spawn” isn’t the only existing project Blumhouse wants to get their hands on as they’ve previously been open in interviews about gunning for the rights to make a new “Friday The 13th” feature film. The rights issues seemingly have been settled as A24 is currently developing a prequel series titled “Crystal Lake” with the aim to mostly focus on Pamela Voorhees, the original killer of the franchise and mother of Jason.

While speaking with Inverse, Blumhouse’s Ryan Turek is still hopeful after tacking a new “Halloween” trilogy their desire is to get the ability to make new “Friday The 13th” movies. In which the studio would very much consider a proud feather in their cap if they can actually secure the rights and get the machete slashing again.

“Jason [Blum] and I are definitely in agreement that ‘Friday The 13th’ is the thing we would love to get our hands on. I really want to go back to the basics. You don’t need too many ingredients for a Friday the 13th film. You need summer camp, you need campers, and you need Jason Vorhees in a mask. Listen, I’ve gone on the record saying ‘Halloween’ is the ultimate slasher film for me. That’s my favorite slasher film of all time. But ‘Friday The 13th’ as a franchise is one that I just bow down to. I just love everything about it. And if we were able to live in both worlds, like we do with ‘Halloween,’ then to be able to live at Crystal Lake for a while would be so incredible.”

We’ll have to wait and see if Blumhouse is able to get either project off the ground. Although, given Blumhouse’s reputation of persistence it wouldn’t be that wild of a situation if they did end up getting their hands on Jason Vorhees. A studio that is mainly focused on the horror franchise’s legacy might have better intentions than a studio only looking to squeeze money out of it, which I’m sure horror fans would get behind. Then again, there had been mixed reactions to how they’ve handled their trio of “Halloween” installments and predictable groans concerning their recent release, “The Exorcist: Believer.”

SOURCE: INVERSE & COMICBOOK