Jason Voorhees can run.  That was one of the big revelations from the final day of the San Diego Comic-Con, as Supernatural star Jared Padalecki appeared alongside cast members and producers from the new Friday the 13th reboot.  A teaser trailer was unveiled during the panel, which highlighted the producers' attempts to ground the horror flick in reality.  Gone is the slow, zombie-like killer from the older films, and in his place is a hulking maniac who isn't afraid to sprint after a frightened teenager.  It's a big change for the series, but the Comic-Con audience responded enthusiastically to the footage.

After the trailer was shown, an audience member asked the question that many Supernatural fans are probably wondering: Will Jared Padalecki's character survive his face-off with Jason?

"I actually do not know.  Truth be told, I do not know," Padalecki responded.  Though the producers didn't comment on it, it's possible that multiple endings were shot for the film, leaving the fate of Padalecki's character up in the air.  The actor said that he'd love to do a follow-up, and joked, "I was trying to push for the prequel, Thursday the 12th."

Even if Friday the 13th is a box office success, producers Andrew Form and Brad Fuller claim that they're not thinking of it as a franchise.  Unlike the original film, which spawned a whopping nine sequels, the folks behind the new Friday the 13th want their movie to stand alone.  "If the audience loves the film, we'll rack our brains and try to figure out a way to bring it back," Fuller said.  Some people may choose to believe that line, but horror fans know that sequels to successful splatter flicks are as inevitable as death, taxes, and stale jokes on Two and a Half Men.

If Jason Voorhees isn't resurrected for a follow-up killing spree, it could be because the filmmakers want to keep things more realistic this time around.  Padalecki commented on the tone of the movie, saying that the 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, who plays Jason) is the real deal."

The panel itself was filled with interesting tidbits, but Padalecki's enthusiasm for the project really came through when he spoke with Latino Review afterwards.  "I wanted to be a part of the movie even before I really watched the movie, because I was a fan of the director's work and the production company's work," he said.  "Then I read the script, and I read the character, and I was like, 'Dude, I get to do some rocking stuff!'  Just to talk about the heroic part, I get to fight Jason ... Every now and again we do a shot where Jason and I are about to face off, and we're kind of like warming up, getting pumped up, and they're spraying us with water and dirt and blood.  And you kind of sit there and you're like, 'This is way cool.'"

The experience may have been "way cool" for Padalecki, but will Supernatural fans feel the same if his character bites the dust at the end of the film?  We'll find out when Friday the 13th opens on February 13, 2009.


- Don Williams, BuddyTV Staff Writer
Source: Latino Review
(Image courtesy of J-Padalecki.org)