Freddy vs. Jason is a 2003 American slasher film directed by Ronny Yu and written by Damian Shannon and Mark Swift.

The film stars Monica Keena, Kelly Rowland, Jason Ritter, Christopher George Marquette, Lochlyn Munro, and Robert Englund.

The film combines the two series in a shared universe and pits their respective antagonists, Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees, against each other.

Jason turns out to not be as easily controlled as Freddy initially thought, and the two supernatural mass murderers come into conflict.

The film marks Robert Englund's final portrayal as Freddy Krueger until his cameo in The Goldbergs episode "Mister Knifey-Hands" on October 24, 2018.

A sequel and crossover with the Evil Dead franchise was planned, but it was scrapped and turned into a comic book limited series, Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash, and its follow-up The Nightmare Warriors.

All mention of him has been removed from public records, and any children who dream of him are forcibly institutionalized at Westin Hills Psychiatric Hospital to contain the spread.

Jason awakens at the real Camp Crystal Lake and pursues the teens, fatally injuring Charlie.

[5][6] New Line Cinema studio chief Robert Shaye,[7] who produced every preceding Nightmare on Elm Street film, played the school principal (credited as L.E.

After Jason Takes Manhattan was released in 1989, the rights reverted to Scuderi, Minasian, and Barsamianto (who sold them to New Line).

[9] Before Cunningham could begin to work on Freddy vs. Jason, Wes Craven returned to New Line to make New Nightmare.

[11] In a 1995 interview with Fangoria, Craven was dismissive of the idea of Freddy vs. Jason, saying it was taking "something that had a lot of impact and dignity and dragging it down to another level.

[14] Jason Goes to Hell duo Adam Marcus and Dean Lorey were courted early on, but no official deal was finalized.

[19] In 1994, De Luca passed on the draft and turned to Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore, who wrote Jason vs. Freddy, which had a more "adult tone" than previous entries.

[20] The writing duo would depart the film and would be replaced by Peter Briggs, who impressed the studio with his previous crossover attempt, Alien vs.

[21] By 1996, Demon Knight scribes Cyrus Voris and Ethan Reiff were commissioned by Cunningham to write a new script, under the title Freddy vs. Jason: Millennium Massacre, with Rob Bottin, known for his make-up work on The Thing and Total Recall, directing.

David S. Goyer and his writing partner James Dale Robinson were subsequently hired to flesh out Bottin's treatment into a screenplay.

Screenwriting duo Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, known for their work on King of the Hill, were selected by the director to write a new script.

[31] Newcomers Mark Swift & Damian Shannon were hired after delivering a pitch that De Luca was happy with in March 2002.

[34] According to Swift and Shannon, several endings were considered for the film; one involved a surprise appearance from Pinhead of the Hellraiser franchise, but New Line did not want to secure the rights for the character.

[22] In August 2002, Entertainment Weekly revealed Kelly Rowland and Brad Renfro were cast in the film, while Kane Hodder would reprise his role as Jason Voorhees.

[39] Monica Keena was selected to portray the film's lead after an "extensive search", while the supporting cast were made up of Canadian actors, including Katharine Isabelle, Lochlyn Munro, Brendan Fletcher, Tom Butler, David Kopp, Jesse Hutch, Kyle Labine and Zack Ward.

[40] Betsy Palmer was courted to reprise her role as Pamela Voorhees from Friday the 13th, but declined due to salary disputes.

Cunningham disagreed with their decision, believing that Kane Hodder, who had played Jason in the previous four films, was the best choice for the role.

[44] Hodder said that New Line did not give him a reason for the recasting; according to Yu, however, he wanted a taller, slower and more-deliberate Jason.

Ill Niño's music video for "How Can I Live"; trailers and TV ads, soundtrack promotion and behind-the-scenes featurettes.

[54] Kim Newman of Empire gave the film three stars out of five, writing: "FVJ ignores any attempts at cleverness and picks up storylines dropped in Freddy's Dead and Jason Goes to Hell".

[55] Sacha Molitorisz of The Sydney Morning Herald wrote: "this is a solid effort, with enough frights, humour, blood, surprises and killer dialogue to entertain consistently.

"[56] Robert K. Elder of the Chicago Tribune gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying that it "succeeds as a guilty pleasure, a monster mash that clobbers the recent lackluster sequels plaguing both legacies.

"[57] In an interview with Entertainment Weekly published in 2023, Robert Englund said he was proud of Freddy vs. Jason: "It took the genius of Ronny Yu.