[3][4] The film stars Jared Padalecki, Danielle Panabaker, Aaron Yoo, Amanda Righetti, Travis Van Winkle, and Derek Mears.

It follows Clay Miller (Padalecki) as he searches for his missing sister, Whitney (Righetti), who is captured by Jason Voorhees (Mears) while camping in woodland at Crystal Lake.

Meanwhile, Clay and Jenna search the old Crystal Lake campgrounds, where they see Jason hauling a body into the abandoned camp house.

New Line Cinema's Toby Emmerich approached Platinum Dunes producers Michael Bay, Brad Fuller and Andrew Form about remaking Friday the 13th in the same way they restarted The Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise.

They agreed and spent over a year obtaining the film rights from Paramount Pictures, New Line, and Crystal Lake Entertainment—the latter run by Friday the 13th creator Sean S.

"[5] The producers initially expressed an interest in using Tommy Jarvis, a recurring character who first appeared in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984), but the idea was scrapped.

[10] Jonathan Liebesman was in negotiations to direct the film, but scheduling conflicts meant he was unavailable and Fuller and Form chose Marcus Nispel.

[12] Stuntman Derek Mears was hired to portray Jason Voorhees at the recommendation of special make-up effects supervisor Scott Stoddard.

[6] Jared Padalecki describes Clay Miller as a real hero because he sets out "to do the right thing" when his sister goes missing, and goes about it as a "lone wolf" who wants to take on the responsibility alone.

As soon as Yoo was ready for filming, Nispel immediately hung him upside down from some rafters, exposing the staples over his surgical wound for the character's post-death shot.

Hostel: Part II's Richard Burgi, who was cast as Sheriff Bracke, did not sign his contract until twelve hours before he was due to start filming his scenes.

The writing team decided to create a version of Jason "who was actually in the woods surviving off the land", and whose killings are presented as a way of defending his territory rather than randomly murdering whoever came along.

The writers did not want to spend a lot of time covering Jason's childhood experiences, which they felt would remove the sense of mystery from the character.

They tried to write scenes that would add verisimilitude, like the audience finding a deer carcass lying on the ground as they follow Jason through his tunnels.

[19] The writers had written a scene in which Willa Ford's character Chelsea is stranded on the lake for hours after she sees Jason standing on the shore.

[21] The writers wanted to strike a balance between finding new and interesting ways to kill characters and paying homage to popular death scenes that appeared in installments of the previous series.

They decided against an origin story because they did not want to focus on Jason's tormented childhood because the producers felt that would "demystify" the character in an unhelpful manner.

The special effects team digitally drooped half of the actor's face to appear as though the nerves had been severed by Jason's machete.

Here, Asylum digitally created a metal spike that bursts through Trent's chest as Jason slams him onto the back of a tow truck.

[25] For Jason's wardrobe, Mears was given a pair of combat boots and a "high-priced t-shirt" that allowed the special effects make-up to be seen through holes in the shirt.

Nispel said, "I don't believe that, when you watch a Friday the 13th film, you want to feel like John Williams is sitting next to you with the London Symphony Orchestra".

[56] In addition to its North American box office gross, Friday the 13th earned over $9.5 million in foreign markets on its opening weekend.

[62] Bill Goodykoontz of The Arizona Republic said the film accepts the "ridiculousness" of what it is trying to accomplish—mainly the "death and dismemberment" of "party-hungry kids", and that audiences would enjoy it if they also recognized that.

[64] Mark Olsen of the Los Angeles Times said Nispel captured the despair he created with his Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake.

[65] Wesley Morris said Friday the 13th did have humor; he said the characters continually act the clichéd role of would-be-victim, making it hard to fear for their safety.

She also said Padalecki and Panabaker filled their lead roles well, and that Aaron Yoo's comic relief made him one of the most likable characters on screen.

[4] Adam Graham from The Detroit News said that it is the most effective and scary film in the Friday the 13th franchise, praising its choice of allowing Jason to run after his victims—as opposed to slowly walking behind them, as became prominent in later sequels—because it made him more menacing.

[69] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times explained his review of the film, he stated: "It will come as little surprise that Jason still lives in the woods around Crystal Lake and is still sore about the death of his mom.

[70] Entertainment Weekly's Clark Collis said director Nispel made a competent film that performs better as a whole than the previously released remakes of Prom Night (2008) and My Bloody Valentine 3D (2009), although it does provide a few too many unbelievable character moments.

[78] During the same month, however, Derek Mears (who portrayed Jason Voorhees in the 2009 film) revealed that Paramount was working with Platinum Dunes to produce a sequel to the remake.