Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday and ultimately granted New Line rights to the Jason Voorhees character, but retained control of the "Friday the 13th" title. New Line placed Cunningham's idea for a Freddy-versus-Jason film on hold, prompting him to generate a different script to precede that plot line. Cunningham's original idea would later manifest as "Freddy vs. Jason" in 2003. The film marked Adam Marcus's debut feature; having just graduated from film school, Marcus was originally attached to direct "My Boyfriend's Back" (1993) for Touchstone Pictures, but the studio's parent company, Walt Disney Studios, did not want to hire a first-time director, and Marcus was
Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday conceived by co-writer and director Marcus under Cunningham, producer/director of the first film. After low box-office sales for "Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan", Paramount Pictures sold the character rights of Jason Voorhees to New Line Cinema, who distributed "Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday." Cunningham approved of the story co-written by first-time writer-director Marcus, who was hired to direct the project. "Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday" premiered in the United States on August 13, 1993, and grossed $15.9 million at the box office. Several film critics denounced Marcus's script and direction, and the film polarized fans of