The History Of The Censored Posters Of Friday The 13th Part 8: Jason Takes Manhattan
Friday The 13th fans have known for decades that the MPAA has never liked the existence of the Friday The 13th film franchise, and as such, is typically much more brutal on forcing cuts to the films in order to secure an R Rating from the board before film distribution. One area of censorship that our readers may not know about is that the MPAA can also dictate what is deemed appropriate for advertising a film as well. Such was the case with Friday The 13th Part 8: Jason Takes Manhattan in 1989.
The film’s original one-sheet (Lower Left) was initially rejected by the organization’s Advertising Administration due to its depiction of Jason tearing through the famous “I Love New York” logo with a bloody knife and hockey mask. This forced Paramount Pictures to resubmit a new, “bloodless” version of the poster, which was approved by the MPAA. The new poster (Lower Right) began to circulate across the country as the film’s July 28th release date loomed. However, that was only the first obstacle for the poster for Jason Takes Manhattan.
The New York City Counsel and it's Boards Of Tourism threatened to sue Paramount for the use of the "I Love New York" phrase and symbol which subsequently forced Paramount to create a third one-sheet that became the final marketing image (Far Bottom Poster) for theatrical display. Ultimately, the final poster (Style B) was embraced by fans, but the original I Love New York poster was a genius use of New York marketing made to sell the latest Friday The 13th film. Too bad it never was seen in theaters as it was originally intended.
The film’s original one-sheet (Lower Left) was initially rejected by the organization’s Advertising Administration due to its depiction of Jason tearing through the famous “I Love New York” logo with a bloody knife and hockey mask. This forced Paramount Pictures to resubmit a new, “bloodless” version of the poster, which was approved by the MPAA. The new poster (Lower Right) began to circulate across the country as the film’s July 28th release date loomed. However, that was only the first obstacle for the poster for Jason Takes Manhattan.
The New York City Counsel and it's Boards Of Tourism threatened to sue Paramount for the use of the "I Love New York" phrase and symbol which subsequently forced Paramount to create a third one-sheet that became the final marketing image (Far Bottom Poster) for theatrical display. Ultimately, the final poster (Style B) was embraced by fans, but the original I Love New York poster was a genius use of New York marketing made to sell the latest Friday The 13th film. Too bad it never was seen in theaters as it was originally intended.
