Friday Conversation: Did Michael DeLuca Ruin “Jason X” At The Box Office?
When Sean Cunningham went to Mike Deluca with the concept for Jason X, Mr. Deluca was all for the concept and said go for it. Todd Farmer’s script was ripe with original ideas that would add the wow factor to a franchise that was dormant for 6 years. Although the budget restricted what Todd’s script called for the movie to become, the movie itself was still creative and entertaining.
The film was completed for release for 2024. Unfortunately, Michael Deluca left New Line Cinema at that time as did all of the support for Jason X. The film preceeded to sit on the shelf for two years while execs figured out what to do with it. During that time the movie leaked onto the Internet as well as the Uber-Jason unveiling towards the end of the film. When New Line finally decided to release the film theatrically in the U.S., they dumped it into one of the worst slots available. Jason X was released the same weekend as the Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson spinoff, “The Scorpion King”. Strike one. This weekend also was a week before the launch of the Spiderman franchise with Sam Raimi’s first Spiderman. Jason X had no real chance to succeed in this slot.
So, did Michael Deluca leaving New Line have a real effect on the box office returns of Jason X, or would the movie have performed the same regardless of what date it was released?
I don\’t think it did, Jason X was just a fun movie to watch. The reason I say that is because with Jason Goes to Hell, I disliked that movie and FvsJ did not live up to my expection. Don\’t get me wrong, Jason X was not a great movie, but it was in my mind, the better of the 3 New Line movies for Jason.
hmmmmm, tough question. i don’t think it would have mattered what weekend it came out on, if people want to see it, they will go see it. that is something i have always believed in. just because, say Avatar is the biggest movie of all time, does not mean i want to see it, i could go see The Tooth Fairy with the Rock, lol.
i think that they just waited too long between Friday movies, and after that fiasco of Jason Goes To Hell, people lost interest, and forgot about Jason and the Friday series, but i think that it started going downhill fast after part 6. how many times can we see Jason resurrected and killing teens in the same setting over and over again, its the same movie time after time.
to get the fans back they had to come up with some kind of gimmick and that gimmick was Jason in space. sure it was hokey and like “sankeyez14″ said above me, it was fun to watch, but if that is how your going to treat your fans who have been waiting almost 10 years for another Friday movie, you better think again.
there is an old saying going around in my head right now, and it says, ” its better to burn out, then to fade away”. and im afraid that the Friday series should have stopped a long time ago, but when you have money mongers running paramount and new line, you know that you can dump 5-10 million into a movie and make it as cheap as possible and you can still turn a profit, because of dedicated fans like us, who get tricked everytime.
i think that we just hope everytime that a new one comes out, it will take us back to the time that we first seen a Friday movie, and that it would thrill us and chill us and scare us, like it did before, but then we just realize that we have been had, and then paramount and now new line are lighting their cuban cigars with $100 dollar bills.
i’m depressed now, lol. interesting topic!
Great points from sankeyez14 and bytor2112 and I agree.
I had a great downloaded file of the movie long before its release date. I did see it in the theatres anyway since a friend wanted to see it. Would I have on my own? I doubt it as I would have just waited for the DVD release.
Seeing Jason turn into Uber-Jason really ruined the last half hour of the movie for me. Before then I thought it was pretty good. Some of the kills were frakin’ great and I loved the claustrophic feel of the movie, and the look of it was good.
And Rowan was one of my favourite “last survivors.”
I did like the movie much more than Manhattan, Goes To Hell and F vs J.
Having a movie leaked on the internet that much before its release date is going to cut into the theatre take. And for people who did not at all like Uber-Jason it would definitely stop them from seeing it in theatres.
…”you brought him onboard?”….
THEY WAITED 2 YEARS BEFORE TO RELEASE IT. THAT WAS THE JASON X BOX OFFICE FAILURE.
I disagree. I just don’t think it was a great way to go with the franchise. It ended Kane’s Jason career. For the money they did spend, many would have rather seen something at least attempting to be a horror movie.
I think the box office returns would have been the same reguardless. Before Jason X came out, there were alot of people hating on it already. I however looked forward to it. Mainly because I knew Kane Hodder was going to have more screen time as Jason as opposed to Jason Goes To Hell (where He had maybe 8 mins of screen time). I remember when some friends and I went to see Blade 2 at the theatre. Beforehand they showed the trailer for Jason X and I was like Hell Yeah!!. But I could hear alot of people in the crowd saying things like “god not another one”. And the guy in front of Me said “pure garbage”. So I quietly gave Him the finger. The Ft13th movies never do as good as lets say Spider Man, but to Me its just as important. I enjoyed Jason X very much. My only gripes are the CGI blood, and I was hoping Jason would use more futuristic weapons, like a laser machete or something. But then again that might be ripping off George Lucas. Out of the three installments New Line put out (not including The remake) Jason X was the best one, its too bad they couldnt make a Jason X 2 but oh well.
DrJohnMan, I think that is one of the main reason I like Jason X, it was Kane last one. As Zoombie Jason, he did Ok, but I agree that when 6 came out it did go down hill, or as I call it JA86 (Jason after 1986). I was a big fan of the JB86 (Jason before 1986), the way he killed and hunted his victims. Ted White Steve Dash, and Richard Brooker played Jason and made me really believe he was out there (yes I left the D-bag Gillette out of it). Kane\’s Jason, even though his take was good for his movies and I felt he should have been the one to kick Freddy ass, Jason was not the same. Regradless, I thought Jason X and part 7 were his best films. 8 and 9 were just bad movies, 8 I felt was an empty movie and that ended pointlessly and it was like hearing crickets in the back ground and a very misleading title. I remember walking out saying that was it. As for 9, it is like it was a rip off the movie The Hidden (starring Kyle MacLachlan in the 80\’s) minus the Aliens. Regradless, Jason X was not what killed the series, I put that blame on both Paramount (because of part
and New Line (JGTH).
Everyone makes great points. I do think that if the movie was released right away in 2024 and was put into the month of February or September that it would have made at least 10-15 million more than it did, and for a Friday film that is a lot of money.
jasonfury, what was the finally numbers on this movie? I know it released a week before Spiderman, but didn’t it fair well going into the summer. I could be wrong
Different places give you different numbers, but $13 million is about the average that was reported. I think that’s awful. Jason Takes Manhattan made $14 million and that was in 1989.
Stand corrected, guess it made it’s budget
I think the movie did bad becuase by the time the film was released, the SFX were out dated. I personally liked Jason X. I thought it was a good,fun,film. Nothing more nothing less, but yes I think if it was released in 2024 instead of sitting on the shelf for 2 years and leaking on to the net then it would have been a better B/O. At least it stayed at the theater longer than the reboot. I think Jason X is the better of the 4 newline has put out and yes I am including the reboot or what I like to call it The final nail in the coffin. I don’t see why people hate JX soo much. I mean it was different, everyone said they wanted something different. It had the same jason formula that we have come to love (that was sadly missing from the reboot) It surely felt like I was watching Jason Voorhees. It had Harry Manfredini doing the score….(although it was a weak one it atleast had the little throwback to the original in the VR scene)… Sorry for the rant.
Not at all. Jason X killed it self. Everything about it except for a few kils sucked.
Anytime you go into space with a movie franchise, it’s never a food idea Critters 4 for example!
*good idea
I think that it had a significant push on the film. It would have been better to release it back in 2024 as it would have spaced the films out better and given less time for the film and surprises to leak out.
I think Jason X was not a good film, I did not mind Jason Goes to Hell, although I thought the theory of a demon jumping from one body to another to keep Jason going was far fetched, I did not like the mask in Jason X, I thought it was the worst mask I have ever seen, and putting Jason into space was another story line that sucked. I watched the film again just to watch it but I felt my IQ had dropped from just sitting there and watching it it was so bad, when and if Platinum Dunes gets the green light for the sequel I hope they make it good, I liked what they did with the film and I hope they do not pull a Rob Zombie like what happened with H2.
Make a difference? Are you fucking kidding me? Jason X is one of the worst movies ever made! Who gives a fuck! I am a Friday fan, too! This movie was garbage, plain and simple. Yeah, let’s crack fucking jokes when we are about to die…”It’s going to take more than a poke in the ribs to keep this old dog down.” WHAM!…”Yep, that did it.” How could anyone who worked on this film be proud? They should’ve stopped at The Final Chapter, period. Who gives a shit about a huge body count, who gives a shit that Jason looks cool in X, who gives a shit that it is ‘different’. This film is a fucking joke! You know how this film should’ve been released…Free T.V. on the fucking Sci-Fi channel. You ever watch those original feature films that are crap on that channel? Yeah, that’s where Jason X belongs.
I think it was ok but not great.I think that New Line thought that the traditional F13 romp had turned stale and therefore felt they had to try new ideas for Jason.Jumping from body to body in J.G.T.H and then going all sci-fi in space for J-X.Whereas i think there was no need for these outlandish ideas as unlike the 80’s the New Line movies were released with a good number of years between them meaning that they could have stayed to the tried and tested formula of stalk ‘n’ slash in the woods of Crystal Lake without the whole thing feeling “stale” and done to death.Jason X was a movie that could have been better but seems nowadays the production companies know that there is such a rabid fan base for Jason that they can make whatever they want and we’ll still flock to see it because basically we’re just grateful that they are keeping the franchise alive and that’s just sad and wrong.Now we are onto a whole new playing field for Jason with the words that all horror fans dread to hear….REMAKE.However saying that i thought the reboot was the best F13 entry since the glory days of the 80’s and was a step in the right direction.Derek Mears is an awesome Jason but the actual “camp” setting for Camp Crystal Lake could use a little work for traditionalists sakes.I hope this gets taken on board for the impending sequel as for the first time in a long while i actually have high(ish) hopes……………KI,KI,KI,MA,MA,MA.
Given the right Director, the right budget, the right actors so on etc, the movie could have been a hell of a lot better than it is now. NewLine pretty much fucked up the series after they bought it, JGTH was a piece of shit, FVJ was garbage which is a shame, could of been epic with 2 legends of horror going head to head. And also if JX had of been done correctly and better, it could of continued the series on with Jason now on “Earth 2″ the killing would of started all over again on a new planet with uber jason lol, who really knows, Hollywood makes a lot of mistakes which we have to deal with, sucks.
In Jason X, Kane looks like a living breathing human again, how exactly did he change back from being a rotting corpse zombie?
and that is one of main issue with JA86 (Jason after 1986). He changed so much, the worst was JGTH, it like his head was one giant ZIT ready to pop. yes, yes, yes, I know, I truly rated JGTH as the worst. Sorry, just wish it had never been made, I remember when New Line took the rights over and I really thought we were going to see maybe some cameo from King and others. The answer to where is Paul, Amy Steele returns. I just thought that it would be Jason going after all survivors and killing them all. Very disappointed except for the end when Freddy Hand, then F vs J came out and disappointed again
I have been a friday fan from day one when I was in my teens. Jason X was terrible. When I found out that it was going to take place in space I lost all interest. Friday the 13th fans take enough criticism from everyone and that was the topping on the cake. Space? are you kidding me……that was a terrible idea.
Personally, i feel that that the series has been in trouble since TNB. Which i feel was the last decent entry prior to the remake. JTM was bad and lot of interest had been lost by that point. As a fan base we had been had. So now we feel lucky to have Jason return to the screen in JGTH. wow, the trialers were half decent and we are excited again. wrong! this thing is a piece of crap with NO Jason. Really? ANB tried this and failed already, failing. So. no what? I know! Uber-Jason?? What? Can you guys really watch this thing and feel like you are watching Jason? Like, from sackhead to this? No, sorry, not even close. Terrible sets, writing, shitty Jason costume and mask, and Uber? c’mon this is not the guy who hung in the barn. The studio was reaching far beyond even Jasons distorted reality into the absurd. The fact that the remake even happened with this POS on the radar is a miracle. It is an embarassing entry and for some reason its the most-often-played entry on TV. I like my Jason human, and my era 80’s.
i dont think michael deluca and the date had anything to do with this. new line jason movies were all bad. i think that after part 4 the series got really downward, the new beginning was very good movie but having no jason was not the best thing. part 6 i thought was not my kind of jason ( a zombie like) and i felt more of a funny atmosphere in it rather than a spooky feel. part 7 was a good movie and still had a real friday feeling (the score,realness,killings,crystal lake etc…) but i really didnt like the telekinetic crap. part 8 was bad and part 9 was a shame and a total poop. jason x was better than part 9 but had no friday feel in it i think, just jason voorhees. freddy vs jason wasnt that good either.
To me the thing that killed the movie was the look of Uber Jason. Other than his head the rest of the costume was god awful. But as for the timing of the release, personally I feel it wouldn’t have made a difference. The hardcore friday fans are very outnumbered by casual movie-goers, so it was doomed no matter what. Personally, I love the movie, it was a fun ride for an hour and a half, but I feel it was doomed from the start
I think a different release date could have changed the actual box office numbers a bit, but I don’t think it would have change the general public’s reaction to the film. I thought the concept behind it was great (it’s essentially the same plot as the original Alien) but the execution of the film was way off.
I think Jim Isaac’s direction was the exact opposite of what it should have been. In the DVD commentary he says something to the effect that he wanted the environment not to be dark and cold (or something like that), and we end up with a warm and inviting space ship in several scenes. This just isn’t the kind of environment that works with a slasher film.
The musical score seemed almost comical (I’ve often thought that it reminds me of a Looney Tunes Bugs Bunny episode at point).
The Cunninghams’ dialog rewrites were just stupid and out of place for a movie that is supposed to be considered horror. The humor in the movie was so out of place that it made it difficult to take the movie seriously on any level, because it seemed like the characters in the film were “in” on the jokes. Jason Lives had comedic elements but they were more a result of the circumstances as opposed to the characters actually spouting out one liners (ex. dude smashed into a smiley face on a tree, Martin mumbling about some folks having a strange idea of entertainment, etc.)
I thought the Über-Jason concept was also a great idea that was not executed properly. When the transformation occurred, he was no longer recognizable as Jason, other than he still moved like Kane’s interpretation of Jason. I think that Über-Jason should have had an appearance that was recognizable as Jason to the point that if you showed somebody a picture of Über-Jason who had no knowledge of the plot of Jason X, they would still know it was Jason (only an amped-up version of him). I can remember when the Über-Jason photo was first leaked, a vast majority of us on the old message boards did not believe it was real for a second, because it looked nothing like Jason.
I enjoy Jason X on some levels, but ultimately it ends up being another “what could have been” movie. To its credit is does have some re-watch value if you’re up for mindless “fun.”