Friday the 13th has not seen any new entries in some time due to a long running lawsuit between screenwriter Victor Miller and Producer Sean Cunningham, but something new is coming for fans as Peacock has announced the Crystal Lake, a prequel show to film is in development. The show is being headed by Bryan Fuller, known for developing and writing Hannibal, American Gods, and more and will be produced by A24, who have released numerous horror films, like, X and Pearl.
Fuller stated
“I discovered Friday the 13th in the pages of Famous Monsters magazine when I was 10 years old, and I have been thinking about this story ever since. When it comes to horror, A24 raises the bar and pushes the envelope, and I’m thrilled to be exploring the campgrounds of Crystal Lake under their banner. And [NBCUniversal’s] Susan Rovner is simply the best at what she does. It’s a pleasure and an honor to be working with her again.”
Victor Miller, Marc Toberoff, and Rob Barsamian are set to serve as executive producers on the series. But do not expect Jason to show up with his hockey mask, as Miller only has the rights to the first movie’s script.
Update:
Bryan Fuller has clarified that all Friday the 13th rights are cleared uo for this show, so Jason can indeed appear in his adult form.
Excellent. So, for starters, what characters and locations and whatnot are you allowed to use from the Friday the 13th franchise?
Everything. We can use everything. We can go to Hell, we can go to space. That’s not to say that we will do those things … although if we do go 10 seasons, I will be lobbying hard to go to space.
(Laughs)
A24 and Marc Toberoff, who is Victor Miller’s lawyer, have beautifully and excruciatingly assembled all of the Friday the 13th rights. As a streaming series, we have the rights to do everything underneath the Friday the 13th umbrella. The movie rights are a completely different thing. They are tied up at New Line and are super, super messy and probably won’t be untangled anytime soon, but as far as us chickens in the television industry, uh, roost, we have access to anything and everything that Friday the 13th has done up until this point.
This has been pitched as a prequel series, so how far back in the timeline will we be when Crystal Lake begins?
I don’t think I’m allowed to say just yet, but I would say it’s less a prequel series than a … pre-remake-uel series.