Friday the 13th was last rebooted in 2009 by a team of producers that included Michael Bay, and the movie took in $65 million domestically on a reported budget of $19 million. Given that movie's performance it seemed likely more Friday the 13th films would be in the offing - nobody appreciates a good sequel as much as Michael Bay - but actually the franchise has been absent from the screen ever since. A TV show was briefly planned but that fell through.

2017 however will see the return of Friday the 13th in the form of another reboot. Rumors have abounded about how the 13th installment in the franchise will tackle the story, but now it appears certain that the movie will be taking on the origin of the murderous Jason Vorhees.

Project Casting has all the news on the upcoming reboot entitled Friday the 13th, Part 13 (via Bloody Disgusting). The listing for the horror film includes a call for identical twin actors (often used to accommodate a grueling shoot schedule) to play Young Jason Vorhees. And they have a very specific type in mind:

Male, Caucasian, 12 years old ONLY SEEKING IDENTICAL TWINS W/ TV AND FILM CREDITS. MUST BE UNDER 5 FOOT. NO EXCEPTIONS. Lengthy and awkward. A dark, ominous child, who has severe psychological issues. Must have a very electric and expressive face (you will be painting the scene with your facial expressions), as this role does not speak. YOUNG JASON will grow into the pyscho-killer JASON. SUPPORTING ROLE. MUST BE ATLANTA BASED.

Jason Voorhees mask from Friday the 13th

The film's synopsis confirms that this movie will delve into how Jason became Jason:

The 13th installment in the iconic franchise. Although the specific logline is being kept under wraps, this version is a unique retelling of the origin story.

The movie is set to go before cameras starting on March 19th, 2017 and a release date of October 13th, 2017 has been put out there. The fact that the casting call lists Young Jason as a "supporting role" indicates that the film will focus on the very young Jason only for a short time and that it will soon move on to grown-up Jason likely in full-on slasher mode.

The original Friday the 13th told us next-to-nothing about Jason, focusing instead on his murderous mother. Famously, that movie ended with a watery-ghost-monster Jason emerging from the pond where he drowned and pulling the last survivor off her boat into the water. Friday the 13th Part 2 came out a year later and already Jason was a full-grown mask-wearing killer. No elaboration was offered about what happened to Jason between his pond-dwelling incarnation and his adult self.

It appears the new Friday the 13th means to fill in this giant gap in Jason's backstory. Their call for a "dark, ominous" child drives home the point that this won't be a happy story. One could go all sorts of different directions with explanations for Jason's transformation into a serial killer, from psychological to supernatural, but it looks like this one will be leaning toward the psychological.

Source: Project Casting (via Bloody Disgusting)