character so they could control a crossover film. Negotiations on the project collapsed, and Paramount made Jason Takes Manhattan. After Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan was released in 1989, the rights reverted to Scuderi, Minasian, and Barsamianto (who sold them to New Line). Two years after initial talks fell apart, director Joseph Zito attempted to revive the project, but neither Mancuso or Robert Shaye were interested in pursuing the project. Before Cunningham could begin to work on Freddy vs. Jason, Wes Craven returned to New Line to make New Nightmare. This put Freddy vs. Jason on hold, but allowed Cunningham to bring Jason back with Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday. The ninth installment "turned a healthy profit". In a 1995 interview with Fangoria, Craven was dismissive of the idea of Freddy vs. Jason, saying it was taking "something that had a lot of impact and dignity and dragging it down to another level."<ref>{{cite web|last=Cotter|first=Padraig|url=https://screenrant.com/freddy-jason-movie-wes-craven-declined-reason/|title=Why Wes Craven Passed On 'Freddy Vs Jason|date=May 2, 2021|website=ScreenRant|access-date=June 28, 2022}}</ref> Cunningham's "frustration" with the delayed development of Freddy vs. Jason led him to create Jason X to keep the series alive. Based on Jason Takes Manhattans concept of taking Jason away from Crystal Lake, the tenth film put the titular character in space. The film lost its biggest supporter with the resignation of president of production Michael De Luca. Lack of support let the finished film sit for two years before it was released on April 26, 2002. It was the series' lowest-grossing film at the domestic box office, and had the largest budget of any of the films to date. Jason Goes to Hell duo Adam Marcus and Dean Lorey were courted early on, but no official deal was finalized. New Line spent a reported $6 million on script development alone from several different writers. Lewis Abernathy, writer of Deepstar Six and House IV, was the first screenwriter attached to the film. Abernathy sought to direct his script, entitled Nightmare 13: Freddy Meets Jason, but his limited directing experience prohibited him from doing so. David J. Schow was given an offer to write the script because he just happened to walk by De Luca's office one day. Schow revised Abernathy's script, expanding upon a cult that worships Freddy Krueger. In 1994, De Luca passed on the draft and turned to Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore, who wrote Jason