The team here at hhnrumors.com did do some heavy research on this. We found that after the purchase of the NLC by Warner Bros, the NLC licensing department was disbanded and that the powers of said dept transferred to a central WB office. The small New York office of NLC's licensing was run by a bunch of people that were passionate about their properties and would take great care and consideration to find and agree deals with other companies that maximized the publicity of their icons but also did the best to hold them in the best light.
However, this small niche office is no more and the properties are managed in a large Hollywood office now. We contacted the new office (we can’t give names out) and it was made apparent that the new office has one person responsible for all 3 franchises. After many emails and calls we spoke to said person and he couldn’t tell us anything contractual but he did mention the fact that WB is less protective of its properties and does much more to create exposure for them in the future.
Now what makes this more interesting is the fact that this person had only been in the role a few weeks and yet he knew all about HHN, he knew the mazes in Hollywood each year and he was VERY familiar with the Carnival of Carnage. He made it clear that he talks regularly to NBC Universal and he also said that WB would love to ‘continue their reciprocal relationship.’ That’s all we could get out of him. Asked directly whether they would be at HHN Orlando this year, he said flatly, “Maybe.”
Later, Chad and I spoke to JMR over the WB dealings. Again he could not confirm or deny anything but he did say that WB are much more open to new ideas than NLC were. He also told us he had pitched an idea of a Freddy Vs Jason house but it was voted down by A&D. JMR left shortly after to pursue his freelance career so was unable to provide us with any details of this year’s HHN due to the fact that it was still all open and had not been finalized when he left.
In summary: The 3 NLC characters could be back anytime and anywhere. It felt to us that Warner Bros wanted them back more than A&D does, but that is just my opinion from talking to these people week after week.
If we hear anymore on this topic be sure to find it right away at www.hhnrumors.com.
I hope this clears the Freddy Vs Jason rumors up!