Friday the 13th is a 2009 American slasher film directed by Marcus Nispel, written by Damian Shannon and Mark Swift from a story by Shannon, Swift, and Mark Wheaton. It is a reboot and twelfth installment in the Friday the 13th franchise, which began in 1980. Nispel also directed the 2003 remake of Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), while Shannon and Swift wrote the screenplay for the crossover film Freddy vs. Jason. The film was produced by New Line Cinema, Paramount Pictures, Platinum Dunes and Crystal Lake Entertainment and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures domestically and Paramount Pictures internationally. It stars Jared Padalecki, Danielle Panabaker, Aaron Yoo, Amanda Righetti, Travis Van Winkle, and Derek Mears. The film follows Clay Miller (Padalecki) as he searches for his missing sister, Whitney (Righetti), who is captured by Jason Voorhees (Mears) while camping in woodland at Crystal Lake.

Friday the 13th is an American horror franchise that comprises twelve slasher films, a television series, novels, comic books, video games, and tie‑in merchandise. The franchise mainly focuses on the fictional character Jason Voorhees, who was thought to have drowned as a boy at Camp Crystal Lake due to the negligence of the camp staff. Decades later, the lake is rumored to be "cursed" and is the setting for a series of mass murders. Jason is featured in all of the films, as either the killer or the motivation for the killings. The original film, created to cash in on the success of Halloween (1978), was written by Victor Miller and was produced and directed by Sean S. Cunningham. The films have grossed over $468 million at the box-office worldwide.