After attempting to produce a follow-up to New Line Cinema's financially successful 2009 reboot of the Friday the 13th franchise didn't pan out, in the summer of 2013, Warner Bros. Pictures relinquished the rights to the series back to the original owner, Paramount Pictures, as part of a deal that would allow Warner Bros. to co-produce Christopher Nolan's Interstellar. If a new entry in the series weren't produced within the next five years, Warner Bros. would get the rights back. Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes would once again be producing. Initially hired to direct the new installment was V/H/S co-director David Bruckner, who would be helming from a screenplay penned by Ian Goldberg and Richard Naing. Their draft utilized the found-footage angle, as mandated by the studio in response to the success of their Paranormal Activity films as well as the growing popularity of the sub-genre. However, this didn't last long, as Nick Antosca was soon brought in to write a more traditional draft that would ditch this approach, with Bruckner envisioning it as a throwback to the old-school slasher and classic coming-of-age films of the 1980's. Alas, Bruckner soon left the project. In the winter of 2015, it was reported that Prisoners scribe Aaron Guzikowski would be writing a new script, which would serve as an origin story for series villain Jason Voorhees. Eight months later, Breck Eisner was hired to direct, fresh off of the fantasy action thriller The Last Witch Hunter, with Paramount setting the release date for October 13, 2017 and aiming to begin production in March. Unfortunately, on February 6, 2017, the project was effectively cancelled by Paramount following the critical and commercial failure of their recently released horror sequel Rings. Thus, the rights to the franchise reverted back to Warner Bros. the following year. Follow me and ponder the question, "What if...?" Music: "Rules to Survive" – Brian Tyler (Scream) ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iNZliGOKl8

A feature film adaptation of the John D. MacDonald novel The Deep Blue Good-by, the first in a twenty-one volume series concerning salvage consultant Travis McGee, had been in development at 20th Century Fox since the early 2000's, with several directors and screenwriters coming and going on the project, including Paul Greengrass, Kario Salem, Robert Schwentke, Dana Stevens, and Oliver Stone. The story sees McGee — a free-living bachelor and reluctant hero, who lives on a houseboat in Florida and makes a living recovering property and money for clients and taking half the fee in return — taking on the job of tracking down a treasure that a soldier escaped with, and subsequently hid, after World War II. In the spring of 2010, it was announced that Leonardo DiCaprio would be starring in the film as McGee, as well as joining as a producer alongside Jennifer Davisson through their Appian Way shingle. Peter Chernin and Jenno Topping would also produce through Chernin Entertainment, with Stone executive producing alongside Amy Robinson. Four years later came reports that James Mangold would be taking over in the director's chair, with Christian Bale replacing DiCaprio in the role of McGee and Dennis Lehane rewriting the screenplay, which Mangold would later further revise along with frequent collaborator Scott Frank. In 2015, news came that Rosamund Pike landed the female lead role in the film and that Peter Dinklage and Nicola Peltz landed supporting roles. No doubt many of Mangold's frequent collaborators would've also joined in, including score composer Marco Beltrami, costume designer Arianne Phillips, film editor Michael McCusker, production designer François Audouy, and cinematographer Phedon Papamichael. However, due to Bale suffering a knee injury later that year, production was shelved, and ultimately, nothing else ever came of the project, with everyone involved moving on to other things. Follow me and ponder the question, "What if...?" Music: "Main Titles" – Marco Beltrami (Logan) ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_xjk8VVZrI