COMIC-CON 2008: Friday the 13th New Footage and Panel Details

The new and improved horror icon Jason, and those who brought him to the screen have invaded San Diego today. The cast and filmmakers of Friday the 13th came to Comic-Con for a panel and they had plenty in store for us. They even had a little contest before the panel started where you could win an acutal prop machete used by the new Jason, Derek Mears, in the new film.

Producers Andrew Form and Brad Fuller came on stage and introduced the teaser poster for us and then they showed us some brand new video footage that no one has seen before.

- Amanda Righetti and another kid go into Jason's old houseand when they discover a severed head, teh door closes and a machete comes up through the floor and the kid is dragged through the floor. After that we see a big rapid-fire montage of footage that is capped off brilliantly by showing the new, pro-active Jason, actually running down a victim and slashing him down.

While this footage was brief, it displays how much life they have injected into this series after such a long period of mediocre films. Jason isn't a robot, slowly walking after his victims and somehow catching up with them. He goes after these people with full force and I can't wait to see more of it.

After that footage they brought out actors Jared Padalecki, Amanda Righetti and the new Jason himself, Derek Mears. They opened it right up to questions from the fans. Here's a rundown of what was said.

- The first question right off the bat dealt with why they chose to go with Jason right away, instead of his mother Pamela Voorhes, the killer in the first Friday The 13th. Brad Fuller answered that, "at the end of the day, with today's audience, it would be difficult to make it believable that Pamela Voorhes trying to kill Jared Padalecki. We didn't really think that we could make that believable."

- When asked if he was going to live or die, Jared Padalecki said he honestly didn't know. He also added, "I was trying to push for the prequel, Thursday the 12th."

- Brad Fuller noted that in this new film we will get the origin of how and why Jason got that infamous goalie mask. "We thought it was a really important thing to show," Fuller added.

- Fuller also said that the film was designed as a stand-alone film but, "if the audience loves the film, we'll rack our brains and try to figure out a way to bring it back." Derek Mears also noted that he'd love to don the hockey mask for future installments.

- Jared Padalecki said this film brings, "a whole new level of scare. It feels very real. It's based in reality and it's not like the slow-walking guy is gonna find us. This guy (Derek Mears' new Jason) is the real deal."

- Fuller said that Platinum Dunes is working on a remake of The Birds, which brought about much applause, and also that they're working on a deal to remake A Nightmare on Elm Street, "but we haven't made the deal yet," Fuller said after another huge round of applause.

- Jared Padalecki and Amanda Righetti remarked on how physically demanding the film was, but Righetti mentioned that, "it was definitely worth it. These were great people to work with and I enjoyed the job." She also said that, "when you're in it, you don't feel it but when you wake up the next day you do."

- Derek Mears talked about how tough the cast since they didn't want to use stunt doubles. "I thouroughly manhandled them and beat the crap out of them every single day. I asked them if they'd want to get their doubles and they went, 'No no no. It looks better with me so we can get the full shot, so let's do it.'"

I was on the set of this movie at the very end of shooting in June and I have to tell you, I was psyched for this film then and, after seeing this awesome teaser trailer, and the first glimpse at the tenacious Jason, I'm even more psyched. That's all she wrote from Ballroom 20.

Friday the 13th will be coming to theaters on Friday the 13th of February 2009.

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