Dan Trachtenberg to Direct Freddy The 13th Animated

Bad luck gets a leading role. Dan Trachtenberg, the director behind 10 Cloverfield Lane and the recent box-office hit Predator: Badlands, is set to helm an animated horror-comedy for Paramount Animation based on Yehudi Mercado's graphic novel Freddy The 13th.

Think of it as spooky and silly with heart. The story follows Freddy Van Winkle, the literal thirteenth son of a thirteenth son, whose life has been one small catastrophe after another. While babysitting his nephew and niece, Logan and Lola, Freddy accidentally kills a legendary killer known as Nighty Night — and then finds himself wearing the monster’s skin, cursed to fill those bloody boots.

Thirteen nights. One desperate chance. And yes, rival killers crawl from the shadows to complicate everything. The source material, published in late 2025, balances pitch-black humor and genuine pathos, which explains why Trachtenberg—who recently signed a three-year deal with Paramount Pictures—was an obvious fit.

Trachtenberg won’t go it alone. He’s producing the film alongside longtime collaborator Ben Rosenblatt, and Yehudi Mercado will share directorial duties, bringing the graphic novel’s visual DNA directly into the animation pipeline. Paramount Animation has described the project as family-friendly horror: designed to offer jumps and laughs that can be enjoyed across generations rather than pure gore for adults only.

If you’re wondering where this sits in Trachtenberg’s trajectory, it follows a prolific 2025: an original animated Predator offshoot for Hulu titled Predator: Killer of Killers, and the theatrical Predator: Badlands, which earned $184 million worldwide. That mix of genre-smarts and commercial reach is exactly what a risky-but-warm-hearted title like Freddy The 13th needs.

The announcement landed during the Annecy International Animation Festival in France, a fitting stage for a film that leans into inventive visuals as much as tonal shifts—one moment playful, the next bone-chilling. Paramount is clearly betting that families hungry for fresh, character-driven animation will embrace a spooky tale told with wit.

What makes Freddy irresistible as a protagonist is his relentless misfortune. He’s not a chosen hero. He’s the sort of guy you root for because he keeps getting up. That fragile sympathy is going to be the engine of both the scares and the laughs, and it’s also what sets this project apart from typical animated shock-fests.

Expect a film that wears its references lightly: nods to classic monster lore, splashes of dark comedy, and a visual palette that honors Mercado’s art while letting Trachtenberg’s kinetic style run free. No release date has been announced yet, but with the creative team now assembled, Freddy’s countdown has officially begun.