Streaming service Peacock has reportedly given a series order to Crystal Lake, a prequel series to the Friday The 13th franchise. Bryan Fuller, who has created notable shows such as Hannibal, American Gods, and Pushing Daisies, has created the show, which will be produced by A24.
Plot details are under wraps, but the title obviously alludes to Camp Crystal Lake, the placid, wooded New Jersey campgound setting for the long-running slasher series.
The opening scenes of the first film depict the murder of two camp counselors at the camp in 1958; the movie eventually reveals the murderer was Pamela Voorhees, who did so to avenge her disabled son Jason, who supposedly drowned while the counselors were neglecting their duties. The rest of that film focuses on the reopening of the camp in the present day.
So will Crystal Lake revolve around that period between 1958 and 1980? Or will it go back even prior to the Pamela Voorhees murders? It’s even possible that the series does some retconning to get Jason involved earlier, or move around the timeline. Anything is possible in a franchise as wacky as Friday The 13th has been.
The franchise has been dormant since 2009’s remake, mostly because of legal disputes.
Victor Miller, the screenwriter of the original film, and Horror Inc., its producers, have had a long-running battle over who has ownership of Jason Voorhees. But last year, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Miller’s work was not legally work-for-hire, and thus he did own the rights to Jason.
Crystal Lake will be produced by Miller, his copyright attorney Marc Toberoff, and original Friday The 13th producer Rob Barsamian, so it appears the parties have come to an agreement over usage of the character. That might even mean that more movies could be happening sooner rather than later.
Fuller said in a statement: “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 camp grounds of Crystal Lake under their banner.”
There actually was a Friday The 13th series that ran from 1987 to 1990, but it was a forgettable cashgrab that revolved around a team tracking down a series of cursed antiques, none of which had anything to do with Jason. This series will most certainly be more memorable than that one.
As the first Friday property since 2009, fans will likely be salivating over Crystal Lake and its possibilities. Expect plenty of theories to be floated around as to how the show will work, when it will be set, what characters may or may not return. We’ll wait and see what A24 and Bryan Fuller have in store.
#Peace.Love.CrystalLake
