History Trivia / FreddyVsJason

* ExecutiveMeddling: Creator/KaneHodder was given the boot after playing Jason for 15 years as the studio wanted the character to tower over Freddy and to had more expressive eyes.

** Following its release, both Creator/MonicaKeena and Creator/KatharineIsabelle had rather choice words about the film, with Keena in particular saying that she thought the screenplay was terrible, and that she only really signed on for the money and to raise her profile. Isabelle's problems were mostly to do with the fact that she didn't get along with director Ronny Yu, who tried to force her to do a nude scene even though she had specifically requested a "no nudity" clause when she signed on. Isabelle was further disappointed in her character and the film at large, calling it "shallow" it saying [[https://1428elm.com/2016/09/17/freddy-vs-jason-10-things-you-didnt-know/6/ she had expected more.]]

* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** Creator/PeterJackson, who had previously penned an early script for the sixth ''[[Film/FreddysDeadTheFinalNightmare Freddy's Dead]]'', was asked to direct shortly after its release, but turned the offer down after being dissatisfied with the producers' treatment of his script.
** Music/RobZombie turned down an offer to direct due to prior commitments to ''Film/HouseOf1000Corpses''.
** There are no less than ''four'' unused scripts floating around the Internet. Such scrapped plot elements included: Jason driving a Subaru, Jason ''helping'' the main characters, the final fight between the two taking place in a burning mall, Freddy killing a girl by turning her into a giant lobster and flash-steaming her, Jason killing a man via shotgun AssShove, a Freddy-worshipping cult called the Fred Heads, lizard-people living in the Dream World, Jason being bought back to life with the heart of the [[FinalGirl Final Girl's]] dead boyfriend (also coincidentally named Jason!), and Freddy summoning UsefulNotes/CharlesManson, Ted Bundy, and John Wayne Gacey to aid him in the fight against Jason. Said unused scripts can be read (in PDF form) [[http://nightmareonelmstreetfilms.com/site/films/freddy-vs-jason/freddy-vs-jason-scripts here.]] Elements of the unused drafts were later re-used in the ''ComicBook/FreddyVsJasonVsAsh'' comics.
** In one of the original endings Freddy and Jason continue their battle in hell, when suddenly a figure steps out of the shadows and separates them. Who is it? Why, none other than [[Franchise/{{Hellraiser}} Pinhead]], of course, who calmly asks, "What seems to be the problem, gentlemen?" The [[IncrediblyLamePun nightmare]] of licensing issues between New Line and Paramount were enough without bringing in yet ''another'' studio's character and thus, preventing this awesomeness.
** The character of Dr. Campbell was originally Dr. Neil Gordon from ''[[Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet3DreamWarriors Dream Warriors]]''.
** Originally the script called [[Film/FridayThe13thTheFinalChapter for]] [[Film/FridayThe13thPartVANewBeginning Tommy]] [[Film/FridayThe13thPartVIJasonLives Jarvis]] to return in a subplot that focused on his resentment to condos being built on Camp Crystal Lake, explaining the construction it was going under during the final fight, but was initially cut because of the abundance of Will/Lori/Lori’s Dad drama.
** One planned sequel would have brought [[Franchise/EvilDead Ash Williams]] into the action, but Creator/SamRaimi ultimately nixed it - apparently just in case he ever got around to making the long-awaited fourth ''Franchise/EvilDead'' movie (the script was used to make the [[Comicbook/FreddyVsJasonVsAsh first comic mini-series]]). There was also talk of bringing [[Franchise/{{Halloween}} Michael Myers]] in after that.
** As was mentioned before, Creator/KaneHodder was to return as Jason in the movie and was excited when he was told it was finally gonna happen. Unfortunately he was unceremoniously recast with a different stunt actor as the studio wanted to go in a different direction with the character.
** [[http://www.milenko500.com/hodder2.htm Kane Hodder has stated in an interview]] that C.J. Graham (the actor who played Jason in ''[[Film/Fridaythe13thPartVIJasonLives Part VI: Jason Lives]]'') had a chance to reprise his role as Jason for this film after his agent suggested it to him. He declined the chance as he was good friends with Hodder and felt the film's producers were treating him unfairly by recasting the character.
** Betsy Palmer was asked to reprise her role of Pamela Voorhees from the first two ''Friday the 13th'' films, but turned down the part after being offered a low salary. She would later say that "the scenes were dumb" anyway, which was also a factor.
** Originally, Kia's death was going to be much different. Rather than confronting Freddy in a taunting speech, it would have been her running into Jason and recreating the closing scene with Nancy from the original Nightmare film, wherein she renounces the fear and energy she gives to him and simply turns around. [[WrongGenreSavvy Only, she got the lore mixed up, and Jason naturally just stabs her in the back.]]
** Katharine Isabelle was originally cast as Lori, but was dissatisfied with the character and asked for the role to be rewritten. When the production refused, the role was recast with Monica Keena, and the roll of Gibb was created specifically to tailor to Isabelle's requests.
** Creator/BradRenfro was originally cast as Will, but was let go after the first week of filming due to his (much publicized) substance abuse problems. Jason Ritter, who had originally been cast as Will but had been personally vetoed by Yu for being "wrong for the part", subsequently replaced Renfro in the role.
** After Brad Renfro dropped out of the film, Ian Somerhalder was considered as a replacement, but Ronny Yu felt he was "too pretty."
** Crystal Lowe and Brittany Murphy were considered for Lori Campbell.
** Kerr Smith was considered for Will Rollins.
** Bianca Lawson was considered for Kia Waterson.
** Katharine Isabelle was originally cast as Jenny, while Lauren Lee Smith was cast as Gibb. In the re-write, Jenny was eliminated, and all of her lines were given to Gibb. Eventually, Katharine Isabelle took over the part of Gibb, and Lauren Lee Smith was no longer in the film.
** Christina Ricci was the first choice for Laurie and was offered the role, but turned it down to appear in Monster.
** Amber Benson was considered for Gibb Smith.
** Freddy and Jason were originally going to have a more personal history with each other. One idea included Freddy being [[LukeIAmYourFather Jason's father]], which was nixed when someone remembered that ''Film/FreddysDeadTheFinalNightmare'' had already pulled that twist with the FinalGirl. Another one was that Freddy was a counselor at Camp Crystal Lake when Jason drowned with the implications that Freddy may have molested Jason and that he deliberately let him drown. Another idea tossed around was that the Voorhees family originally lived in Springwood and Jason was a child targeted by Krueger but avoided death. His parents, Pamala and Elias, then led the rest of the parents into vigilante justice when Freddy avoided legal punishment. In revenge, Freddy arranged for the events that lead to Jason's apparent death after getting his dream powers.
** Across the many, many scripts or treatments, two ideas appeared in almost every single one. Freddy being responsible in one form or another for Jason becoming the way he did, and Jason finally breaking his streak as TheVoiceless and saying a single line. Oddly enough, despite these two ideas appearing the most constantly even across wildly different treatments, they never showed up in the final film.
** The original opening, which is available on the web, is considerably different from the final version.
*** This opening would begin with the narration of a child rather than Freddy, explaining how Freddy gained the powers to enter children's dreams and how humans managed to find a way to defeat him.
*** The girl killed by Freddy begs for her life before she is murdered.
*** Freddy's murder scene is longer. We can see Freddy cornered by the flames and screaming in despair as he dies. The sheriff of the movie is also seen among the crowd.
*** The montage includes more scenes from the franchise's previous films, although interestingly most of it is from part 1 and 2.
*** After the montage is over, Freddy shows up to explain his plan involving Jason. At this moment it shows a scene of Freddy's glove coming out of the ground to get Jason's mask, confirming once and for all that the events of this movie are set after the events of ''Film/JasonGoesToHellTheFinalFriday''.
*** The opening ends with Freddy resurrecting Jason's buried body, and then cuts to Jason by walking across Crystal Lake.

* TheWikiRule: Both the [[http://fridaythe13th.wikia.com/wiki/Friday_the_13th_Wiki Friday the 13th Wiki]] and [[http://nightmareonelmstreet.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page A Nightmare on Elm Street Wiki]] cover ''Freddy vs. Jason''.

** Paula Shaw replaces Betsy Palmer as Pamela Voorhees.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** Creator/PeterJackson, who had previously penned an early script for the sixth ''[[Film/FreddysDeadTheFinalNightmare Freddy's Dead]]'', was asked to direct shortly after its release, but turned the offer down after being dissatisfied with the producers' treatment of his script.
** Music/RobZombie turned down an offer to direct due to prior commitments to ''Film/HouseOf1000Corpses''.
** There are no less than ''four'' unused scripts floating around the Internet. Such scrapped plot elements included: Jason driving a Subaru, Jason ''helping'' the main characters, the final fight between the two taking place in a burning mall, Freddy killing a girl by turning her into a giant lobster and flash-steaming her, Jason killing a man via shotgun AssShove, a Freddy-worshipping cult called the Fred Heads, lizard-people living in the Dream World, Jason being bought back to life with the heart of the [[FinalGirl Final Girl's]] dead boyfriend (also coincidentally named Jason!), and Freddy summoning UsefulNotes/CharlesManson, Ted Bundy, and John Wayne Gacey to aid him in the fight against Jason. Said unused scripts can be read (in PDF form) [[http://nightmareonelmstreetfilms.com/site/films/freddy-vs-jason/freddy-vs-jason-scripts here.]] Elements of the unused drafts were later re-used in the ''ComicBook/FreddyVsJasonVsAsh'' comics.
** In one of the original endings Freddy and Jason continue their battle in hell, when suddenly a figure steps out of the shadows and separates them. Who is it? Why, none other than [[Franchise/{{Hellraiser}} Pinhead]], of course, who calmly asks, "What seems to be the problem, gentlemen?" The [[IncrediblyLamePun nightmare]] of licensing issues between New Line and Paramount were enough without bringing in yet ''another'' studio's character and thus, preventing this awesomeness.
** The character of Dr. Campbell was originally Dr. Neil Gordon from ''[[Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet3DreamWarriors Dream Warriors]]''.
** Originally the script called [[Film/FridayThe13thTheFinalChapter for]] [[Film/FridayThe13thPartVANewBeginning Tommy]] [[Film/FridayThe13thPartVIJasonLives Jarvis]] to return in a subplot that focused on his resentment to condos being built on Camp Crystal Lake, explaining the construction it was going under during the final fight, but was initially cut because of the abundance of Will/Lori/Lori’s Dad drama.
** One planned sequel would have brought [[Franchise/EvilDead Ash Williams]] into the action, but Creator/SamRaimi ultimately nixed it - apparently just in case he ever got around to making the long-awaited fourth ''Franchise/EvilDead'' movie (the script was used to make the [[Comicbook/FreddyVsJasonVsAsh first comic mini-series]]). There was also talk of bringing [[Franchise/{{Halloween}} Michael Myers]] in after that.
** As was mentioned before, Creator/KaneHodder was to return as Jason in the movie and was excited when he was told it was finally gonna happen. Unfortunately he was unceremoniously recast with a different stunt actor as the studio wanted to go in a different direction with the character.
** [[http://www.milenko500.com/hodder2.htm Kane Hodder has stated in an interview]] that C.J. Graham (the actor who played Jason in ''[[Film/Fridaythe13thPartVIJasonLives Part VI: Jason Lives]]'') had a chance to reprise his role as Jason for this film after his agent suggested it to him. He declined the chance as he was good friends with Hodder and felt the film's producers were treating him unfairly by recasting the character.
** Betsy Palmer was asked to reprise her role of Pamela Voorhees from the first two ''Friday the 13th'' films, but turned down the part after being offered a low salary. She would later say that "the scenes were dumb" anyway, which was also a factor.
** Originally, Kia's death was going to be much different. Rather than confronting Freddy in a taunting speech, it would have been her running into Jason and recreating the closing scene with Nancy from the original Nightmare film, wherein she renounces the fear and energy she gives to him and simply turns around. [[WrongGenreSavvy Only, she got the lore mixed up, and Jason naturally just stabs her in the back.]]
** Katharine Isabelle was originally cast as Lori, but was dissatisfied with the character and asked for the role to be rewritten. When the production refused, the role was recast with Monica Keena, and the roll of Gibb was created specifically to tailor to Isabelle's requests.
** Creator/BradRenfro was originally cast as Will, but was let go after the first week of filming due to his (much publicized) substance abuse problems. Jason Ritter, who had originally been cast as Will but had been personally vetoed by Yu for being "wrong for the part", subsequently replaced Renfro in the role.
** After Brad Renfro dropped out of the film, Ian Somerhalder was considered as a replacement, but Ronny Yu felt he was "too pretty."
** Crystal Lowe and Brittany Murphy were considered for Lori Campbell.
** Kerr Smith was considered for Will Rollins.
** Bianca Lawson was considered for Kia Waterson.
** Katharine Isabelle was originally cast as Jenny, while Lauren Lee Smith was cast as Gibb. In the re-write, Jenny was eliminated, and all of her lines were given to Gibb. Eventually, Katharine Isabelle took over the part of Gibb, and Lauren Lee Smith was no longer in the film.
** Christina Ricci was the first choice for Laurie and was offered the role, but turned it down to appear in Monster.
** Amber Benson was considered for Gibb Smith.
** Freddy and Jason were originally going to have a more personal history with each other. One idea included Freddy being [[LukeIAmYourFather Jason's father]], which was nixed when someone remembered that ''Film/FreddysDeadTheFinalNightmare'' had already pulled that twist with the FinalGirl. Another one was that Freddy was a counselor at Camp Crystal Lake when Jason drowned with the implications that Freddy may have molested Jason and that he deliberately let him drown. Another idea tossed around was that the Voorhees family originally lived in Springwood and Jason was a child targeted by Krueger but avoided death. His parents, Pamala and Elias, then led the rest of the parents into vigilante justice when Freddy avoided legal punishment. In revenge, Freddy arranged for the events that lead to Jason's apparent death after getting his dream powers.
** Across the many, many scripts or treatments, two ideas appeared in almost every single one. Freddy being responsible in one form or another for Jason becoming the way he did, and Jason finally breaking his streak as TheVoiceless and saying a single line. Oddly enough, despite these two ideas appearing the most constantly even across wildly different treatments, they never showed up in the final film.
** The original opening, which is available on the web, is considerably different from the final version.
*** This opening would begin with the narration of a child rather than Freddy, explaining how Freddy gained the powers to enter children's dreams and how humans managed to find a way to defeat him.
*** The girl killed by Freddy begs for her life before she is murdered.
*** Freddy's murder scene is longer. We can see Freddy cornered by the flames and screaming in despair as he dies. The sheriff of the movie is also seen among the crowd.
*** The montage includes more scenes from the franchise's previous films, although interestingly most of it is from part 1 and 2.
*** After the montage is over, Freddy shows up to explain his plan involving Jason. At this moment it shows a scene of Freddy's glove coming out of the ground to get Jason's mask, confirming once and for all that the events of this movie are set after the events of ''Film/JasonGoesToHellTheFinalFriday''.
*** The opening ends with Freddy resurrecting Jason's buried body, and then cuts to Jason by walking across Crystal Lake.

* CreatorsApathy: Ronny Yu admitted that he didn't care for either franchise. Ironically that's what landed him the role as director.

** Following its release, both Creator/MonicaKeena and Creator/KatherineIsabelle had rather choice words about the film, with Keena in particular saying that she thought the screenplay was terrible, and that she only really signed on for the money and to raise her profile. Isabelle's problems were mostly to do with the fact that she didn't get along with director Ronny Yu, who tried to force her to do a nude scene even though she had specifically requested a "no nudity" clause when she signed on. Isabelle was further disappointed in her character and the film at large, calling it "shallow" it saying [[https://1428elm.com/2016/09/17/freddy-vs-jason-10-things-you-didnt-know/6/ she had expected more.]]

* SavedFrom: Back when the two franchises were owned by different studios, the project was held up because Paramount (who owned ''Franchise/FridayThe13th'') and New Line Cinema (who owned ''Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet'') each wanted to license the other's character and make the film ''their'' way. After the sale of the ''Friday'' rights to New Line, the project sat in Development Hell for years as New Line went through several different scripts. The studio eventually hired writers Damian Shannon and Mark Swift, who produced the script that was turned into the film by throwing out every other script before theirs and working from a set of rules that respected ''both'' franchises. The whole story - and it's a doozy, especially when you read about the many different scripts New Line went through - is a special feature on the DVD of the film. In ''Crystal Lake Memories'', Creator/RobertEnglund states that the subject of all the assorted scripts that were possibilities at one time or another could be the subject of an entire documentary itself.

* DevelopmentHell: Back when the two franchises were owned by different studios, the project was held up because Paramount (who owned ''Franchise/FridayThe13th'') and New Line Cinema (who owned ''Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet'') each wanted to license the other's character and make the film ''their'' way. After the sale of the ''Friday'' rights to New Line, the project sat in Development Hell for years as New Line went through several different scripts. The studio eventually hired writers Damian Shannon and Mark Swift, who produced the script that was turned into the film by throwing out every other script before theirs and working from a set of rules that respected ''both'' franchises. The whole story - and it's a doozy, especially when you read about the many different scripts New Line went through - is a special feature on the DVD of the film. In ''Crystal Lake Memories'', Creator/RobertEnglund states that the subject of all the assorted scripts that were possibilities at one time or another could be the subject of an entire documentary itself.

* PromotedFanboy:
** Writers Damian Shannon and Mark Swift were huge fans of both franchises and wanted to do the characters justice for this movie.
** Inverted with director Ronny Yu, who admitted that he didn’t care for either franchise. Ironically that’s what landed him the role as director.

** Brad Renfro was originally cast as Will, but was let go after the first week of filming due to his (much publicized) substance abuse problems. Jason Ritter, who had originally been cast as Will but had been personally vetoed by Yu for being "wrong for the part", subsequently replaced Renfro in the role.

** [[http://www.milenko500.com/hodder2.htm Kane Hodder has stated in an interview]] that C.J. Graham (''[[Film/Fridaythe13thPartVIJasonLives Jason Lives]]'') had a chance to reprise his role as Jason for this film after his agent suggested it to him. He declined the chance as he was good friends with Hodder and felt the film's producers were treating him unfairly by recasting the character.
** Betsy Palmer was asked to reprise her role of Pamela Voorhees from the first two ''Friday the 13th'' films, but turned down the part after reading the script and finding her lines distasteful.

* DevelopmentHell: Back when the two franchises were owned by different studios, the project was held up because Paramount (who owned ''Franchise/FridayThe13th'') and New Line Cinema (who owned ''Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet'') each wanted to license the other's character and make the film ''their'' way. After the sale of the ''Friday'' rights to New Line, the project sat in Development Hell for years as New Line went through several different scripts. The studio eventually hired writers Damian Shannon and Mark Swift, who produced the script that was turned into the film by throwing out every other script before theirs and working from a set of rules that respected ''both'' franchises. The whole story - and it's a doozy, especially when you read about the many different scripts New Line went through - is a special feature on the DVD of the film. In ''Crystal Lake Memories'', Robert Englund states that the subject of all the assorted scripts that were possibilities at one time or another could be the subject of an entire documentary itself.

* FocusGroupEnding: In the original ending, after Freddy and Jason are defeated, Lori and Will are back at her home making love for the first time. Will becomes violent in the middle of it, and then grows blades out of his fingers. Lori screams as he slashes her to death. The test audiences thought the acting in the scene was terrible, and were confused about what it meant, asking questions like "Does this mean Freddy won? Where's Jason? Is this a dream? Is Will turning evil and is now some sort of Son-of-Freddy?" It was then replaced with the current ending, where Jason walks out of the water holding Freddy's decapitated head, and Freddy winking at the audience.

** Averted by Kelly Rowland. While several journalists and television hosts have tried to embarrass her over her role in this film, she has always responded by saying that the film was a hit and she enjoyed making it, and therefore has nothing to be ashamed about. She even accepted an award meant to mock the film and shouted "Thirty mil opening weekend!" as her acceptance speech.

** A more light hearted example from a creator who wasn’t even involved with the production, Creator/QuentinTarantino was reportedly disappointed that the line "''Freddy vs. Jason! Place Your Bets!''" wasn’t in the final film.