Victor Miller, the screenwriter of Friday the 13th, has died. He was 86.<\/p>\n
Variety<\/a> reported Miller\u2019s death after receiving confirmation from his son, Ian. Miller died on Monday, August 31. His cause of death has yet to be revealed.<\/p>\n \u201cYesterday my father, Victor Miller, went to his final reward,\u201d Ian wrote in an Instagram<\/a> post. \u201cHe was almost always the smartest, funniest person in whatever room he was in. He inspired in me, and many others, a love of photography, music, and storytelling. He is survived by his wife, two sons, and his grandson. He had a helluva run and will be missed dearly.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Miller was only involved with the first Friday the 13th film, which was released in 1980. The series eventually spawned 12 movies (with many a how-to-watch-in-chronological-order articles online), two TV series, numerous novels and comic books, and several video games, but the New Orleans-born writer famously wasn\u2019t too hot on the film becoming a franchise. In a 2015 Vice interview<\/a>, Miller said he would\u2019ve preferred if the franchise didn\u2019t make Jason its stalwart killer.<\/p>\n \u201cOnly because it completely destroys the motivation for Mrs. Voorhees! Which was the only thing I had going for me in that movie, which was that she was avenging her son and then it turns out that he isn\u2019t dead anyway,\u201d Miller told Vice.<\/p>\n The franchise was the subject of a legal tug-of-war starting in 2016, when Miller filed a notice to reclaim the rights to the Friday the 13th screenplay from production company Horror Inc.\u00a0In December 2021, a judge ruled in favor of Miller<\/a>, determining that the screenplay wasn\u2019t a work made for hire\u2014meaning Miller had the rights to the screenplay, and directors (and other interested parties) could use Jason Voorhees as a character with Miller\u2019s express permission.<\/p>\n In 2024, Horror Inc. launched a Jason Universe initiative<\/a>, with plans for new games, merch, and TV shows, including Peacock and A24\u2019s upcoming prequel series, Crystal Lake<\/a>. Horror Inc.\u2019s \u201cnew Friday the 13th activations\u201d also included plans to work with Miller on new projects.<\/p>\n Following the release of Friday the 13th, Miller transitioned\u00a0to writing soap operas like\u00a0All My Children.\u00a0He eventually returned to writing horror, working with director Tom Holland on the 2017 mystery thriller Rock, Paper, Scissors. However, if he were given the chance to write the second Friday the 13th film, Miller told Vice he would\u2019ve jumped at the opportunity.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, absolutely. Absolutely. But they told me I was too expensive to write the sequel because sequels have to be made cheaper than the previous one,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I went, \u2018Oh. OK.\u2019 What did I know? I\u2019d never written a hit movie before.\u201d<\/p>\n At the end of Ian\u2019s obituary for his father, he announced that Victor\u2019s celebration of life would take place in November, \u201con Friday the 13th, of course.\u201d<\/p>\n Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel<\/a>, Star Wars<\/a>, and Star Trek<\/a> releases, what\u2019s next for the DC Universe on film and TV<\/a>, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who<\/a>.<\/p>\n