The Friday the 13th franchise will soon be returning with the upcoming series Crystal Lake. The newly-announced series is said to be an “expanded prequel,” and as such, we’re still waiting for additional updates. However, one exciting development has occurred. Many fans were afraid that due to the lawsuit between Victor Miller and Sean Cunningham, that the series would not be able to use any elements beyond the original 1980 film. Obviously the elements beyond that film include the version of Jason Voorhees and his signature hockey mask that everyone knows. But now it appears that the Crystal Lake series actually could use Jason Voorhees.
The story, which was first reported by Variety, initially claimed that only elements from the first film would be used for the series. This is given that Victor Miller, who recently acquired U.S. rights to the first film’s screenplay, is attached as an executive producer. However, they’ve since updated the announcement, revealing that “by bringing in Barsamian,” referring to exec producer Rob Barsamian, “the project has access to all of the other elements from the films.”
This was further emphasized by entertainment lawyer Larry Zerner, who previously starred in Friday the 13th Part III. He’s been doing his best to keep fans up-to-date with the complex legal happenings of the franchise. As he pointed out, Rob Barsamian is actually the president of Horror, Inc., the company that actually found itself in the lawsuit with Victor Miller. This means that all rights issues should be tied up regardless of Sean Cunningham’s involvement or lack thereof.
Here’s what he stated below regarding Crystal Lake and how Jason Voorhees reportedly could be used given the involvement of Horror, Inc. via Rob Barsamian:
A little legal info on the TV deal (Reminder: I don’t represent Victor Miller or Horror, Inc.). The TV show is being produced by both Victor AND Horror, Inc. Do you see in the article where it says that Victor and Rob Barsamian will exec. produce. Rob IS Horror Inc. (not Sean) https://t.co/dy9wlbkW8c
— Larry Zerner (@Zernerlaw) October 31, 2022
Of course, with the series being a prequel, it’s unknown if adult Jason Voorhees will play a role or not. We’ll just have to wait and see what further Crystal Lake updates bring to the surface. As for now, however, this is certainly a good sign for the franchise. With enough interest, perhaps we could get new films set in the modern day just as well. This is an exciting first step to bring the Friday the 13th franchise and its most iconic antagonist back to the world.