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Paramount Animation Taps Dan Trachtenberg to Direct Animated Adaptation of Freddy the 13th

The announcement pairs Trachtenberg with graphic-novel creator Yehudi Mercado and signals a family-friendly genre push from Paramount under his multi-year first-look deal with the studio.

Overview

  • Paramount publicly unveiled the untitled animated adaptation at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival on Monday as part of its animation slate presentation.
  • The film will adapt Yehudi Mercado’s 2025 graphic novel and follows a hapless uncle who must face a supernatural curse while protecting his niece and nephew.
  • Dan Trachtenberg is confirmed to direct and produce, Mercado will co-direct, and Ben Rosenblatt is attached as a producer, but the project is still early in development with no release date announced.
  • Paramount is positioning the movie as a PG-rated horror-comedy aimed at delivering family-friendly ‘scares and laughs,’ a shift that leans on Trachtenberg’s recent genre successes with his Predator projects.
  • The announcement fits Paramount Animation president Jennifer Dodge’s broader slate strategy of mixing family fare with genre-leaning projects and marks the first public project tied to Trachtenberg’s three-year first-look deal with Paramount.