With more than a decade since the last Friday the 13th film, the horror film franchise will soon be returning in a brand-new way. It’s just been announced that a Friday the 13th prequel series titled Crystal Lake will be headed to Peacock. And, unlike previous attempts to get a new Friday the 13th television project off the ground, this has already been given a straight-to-series order.
As revealed by Variety, the new series will act as an “expanded prequel” to the original franchise. Other than that, however, plot details are being kept under wraps. Furthermore, Bryan Fuller of Hannibal fame will be writing the series in addition to acting as showrunner and an executive producer. Victor Miller who wrote the original film’s screenplay will also act as an executive producer alongside Marc Toberoff, Rob Barsamian, and A24. It was further stated that “A24 will also serve as the studio behind the series.”
Susan Rovner, chairman of entertainment content for NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, had this to say:
“’Friday the 13th’ is one of the most iconic horror franchises in movie history and we were dying to revisit this story with our upcoming drama series ‘Crystal Lake,’” she began. “We can’t wait to get to work with Bryan Fuller, a gifted, visionary creator who I’ve had the pleasure of being a longtime friend and collaborator, along with our incredible partners at A24, in this updated version for Peacock that will thrill long-standing fans of the franchise.”
Bryan Fuller, meanwhile, added the following:
“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,” Fuller said. “When it comes to horror, A24 raises the bar and pushes the envelope and I’m thrilled to be exploring the camp grounds of Crystal Lake under their banner. And Susan Rovner is simply the best at what she does. It’s a pleasure and an honor to be working with her again.”
It’s worth noting that this series appears to be the result of the lawsuit between Victor Miller and Sean Cunningham. Victor Miller acquired the U.S. rights to the original film’s screenplay. As such, the new series will not include the “trademark hockey mask” that’s become an iconic part of the franchise. With that in mind, it’ll be interesting to see what they come up with for this new Crystal Lake prequel series. For those that are unfamiliar with the original 1980 film, it focused on the murders committed by Pamela Voorhees as opposed to her son, Jason. The new series will presumably follow the buildup to those events.
The last installment on the long-running franchise was the 2009 reboot, titled simply Friday the 13th, which adapted elements from the original four films of the franchise.