Depending on your point of view, this is either very good or very bad news. Shock Til You Drop is reporting that the much-discussed Friday the 13th update will not be a remake of the classic 1980 flick. According to sources, writers Damian Shannon and Mark Swift (Freddy vs. Jason) will not be re-writing the original story. Going one step further, Shock reports that the flick would not be an origin story of any kind. Instead, Shock reports that the film will take place, "somewhere between parts two and four". As any horror fan knows, the story of Jason Voorhees and his reign of terror at Camp Crystal Lake is one of the cornerstones of 80's horror, and the thought of a remake had plenty of fans all up in arms. Texas Chainsaw Massacre director Marcus Nispel hopped onboard a few weeks ago to direct.

Just last week Scott had reported that there were still some details to iron out with the script; mainly how they were going to work around the fact that Jason did not really appear in the films until Part 2. As we all know, it was good old Mommy dearest doing the dispatching in the first film. If Shock's sources can be trusted then this means Nispel won't have to worry about how to work in the big daddy of slashers and his trusty goalie mask and they can just start fresh. Stay tuned for any official word on whether or not we will be seeing a "stronger, faster, better" Jason headed our way. Friday the 13th is set for release February 13, 2009.

Ah, Friday the 13th... One of these days, I'm really going to have to watch it again, but for a while, it was vehemently banned from my house. You see, at the ripe old age of 5 or 6, I had a friend with an older brother and sister who liked it, so every time I went over there, we'd sneak and watch that, as well as the other flicks we weren't supposed to (Squeeze Play). Not surprisingly, I'd come home and have crazy nightmares. However, I better get on reorienting myself with the original soon, because as you might remember, it' s getting a remake.

Instead of adding to the neverending franchise, writers Damian Shannon and Mark Swift have penned the redo, and The Hollywood Reporter has announced that Marcus Nispel is in final negotiations to direct it. (It looks like Jonathan Liebesman has gone bye-bye!) After directing music videos for the super-varied group of artists like Faith No More, Amy Grant, Billy Joel, and Bone Thugs n Harmony, he turned to television and film. There was a TV version of Frankenstein, and then he helmed Pathfinder, the weird viking/Native American action thriller. Oh yeah, he also helmed that little remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which you might remember.

The plan is to start the film this winter, so it looks like he's going to tackle Jason before going to work on Sarah Michelle Gellar's action thriller Alice. This also means that we should get casting news really soon. Now, this isn't some plain-Jane remake, but a redo. THR says: "While Jason made only a brief appearance in the final frames of the first movie in 1980, and didn't even don his famous mask until the third movie, the new movie will focus on Jason -- who will wear the mask and kill -- and keep the famous setting of Crystal Lake." I wonder if this will confuse future horror fans who then go back and watch Scream...

Finally, no post like this is complete without input from resident horror expert, Scott Weinberg: "Good lord, would Nispel be a large improvement over Liebesman. Sure, Pathfinder kinda stunk, but if we can get a Friday the 13th remake that's as bleak and ferocious and Nispel's TCM re-do, then that'll be good enough for me."