Freddy vs. Jason

Did You Know?

• Evangeline Lilly had a walk-on role as a high school student.
• New Line Cinema studio chief Robert Shaye played the school principal, credited as L.E. Moko.
• The soundtrack album was released on August 12, 2003, by Roadrunner Records.

Plot

Trapped in Hell after his last defeat, Freddy Krueger can no longer invade dreams because Springwood adults suppress memories of him and administer Hypnocil at Westin Hills Psychiatric Hospital. To escape, he resurrects Jason Voorhees by impersonating his mother Pamela, manipulating Jason to commit murders on Elm Street and restore Freddy's power through fear. Teenager Lori Campbell and her friends Kia, Gibb, Trey, and Blake encounter Jason, who kills Trey, Blake, and Blake's father.

Police suspect Freddy's return, and Lori's ex-boyfriend Will Rollins and his friend Mark Davis, patients at Westin Hills, escape to warn her. At a rave in a cornfield, Freddy tries to kill Gibb in a nightmare, but Jason kills her in reality and attacks the rave. Freddy realizes Jason's indiscriminate killings deny him victims. Survivors, including Charlie Linderman and Bill Freeburg, learn from Will that Lori's father killed her mother.

Mark is killed in a dream by Freddy, who burns 'Freddy's Back' into his body. Deputy Scott Stubbs helps the teens; Lori falls asleep and pulls a fragment of Freddy into the real world. The group tries to steal Hypnocil from Westin Hills, but Freddy possesses Bill and destroys the drug. Jason kills Stubbs, and the possessed Bill tranquilizes Jason, who then slashes Bill in half.

Production

Fan desire for a crossover led New Line Cinema and Paramount Pictures to attempt a Freddy vs. Jason film in 1987. Frank Mancuso Jr. enlisted Tom McLoughlin to unite the studios, but no agreement was reached. Paramount and New Line each wanted the other's character license to control the crossover, but negotiations collapsed. Rights reverted to Scuderi, Minasian, and Barsamianto, who sold them to New Line.

Director Joseph Zito later tried to revive the project, but Mancuso and Robert Shaye were uninterested. Wes Craven's return to New Line for New Nightmare put the crossover on hold, allowing Cunningham to produce Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday, which turned a profit. In 1995, Craven dismissed the crossover idea. Cunningham's frustration led him to create Jason X to keep the series alive, based on the concept of taking Jason away from Crystal Lake.

The film lost support after Michael De Luca's resignation and sat for two years before release on April 26, 2002, becoming the series' lowest-grossing domestic film with its largest budget. Adam Marcus and Dean Lorey were courted early but no deal was finalized.

Release

Freddy vs. Jason was released on VHS and DVD as part of New Line's Platinum Series on January 13, 2004, with a second disc of bonus content including audio commentary, deleted scenes, and Ill Niño's music video. It was released on Universal Media Disc on October 4, 2005, and on Blu-ray on September 8, 2009, with the same content as the Platinum Series DVD. The film grossed $722,874 in Blu-ray disc sales.

Reception

Freddy vs. Jason grossed $83 million in the United States and Canada and $34 million in other territories, totaling $117 million against a $30 million budget. It earned $36.4 million in its opening weekend at 3,014 theaters, topping the box office, and remained number one in its second weekend with $13.4 million. CinemaScore audiences gave it a 'B+' grade. Kim Newman of Empire gave three stars out of five, noting it ignores cleverness and picks up dropped storylines.

Sacha Molitorisz of The Sydney Morning Herald called it a solid effort with frights and humor. Robert K. Elder of the Chicago Tribune gave two and a half stars, calling it a guilty pleasure. Robert Englund expressed pride in the film in a 2023 Entertainment Weekly interview. Doug Chapman and Glenn Ennis were nominated for Best Fire Stunt at the Taurus World Stunt Awards 2004 for a double full-body burn and wire stunt. The film was also nominated for Best Horror Film at the Saturn Awards.