Friday the 13th Prequel in Development as TV Series From Bryan Fuller
Halloween may have ended earlier this month, with legendary slasher Michael Myers drawing his last breaths in a film released in theaters and on Peacock, but one of Michael's most prolific successors is ready to make a bloody comeback. The world of Friday the 13th is ready for an "expanded prequel" from creator Bryan Fuller, and Peacock is going to be home to the goings on at Crystal Lake, the first new installment in the Friday franchise since a much-maligned reboot in 2009. It's a sign that the series, which had been in legal limbo for years after the original screenwriter Victor Miller successfully terminated the copyright transfer of the first movie's screenplay, is ready to return.
And get ready to class up the joint: A24 is going to produce the series for NBCUniversal, with Miller serving as an executive producer and consultant, according to Variety, who first reported the news. Intellectual property attorney Marc Toberoff, who represented Miller and also had similar suits where he worked with the estates of Jerry Siegel and Jack Kirby, will also serve as an executive producer.
"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," said Susan Rovner, chairman of entertainment content for NBCUniversal Television and Streaming. "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."
Crystal Lake has earned a straight-to-series pickup, and seems likely to align somewhat with Fuller's Hannibal, which served as a prequel to Silence of the Lambs. One notable element that will be missing from the show is Jason's iconic hockey mask, which was introduced in Friday the 13th Part III. Since longtime franchise producer Sean S. Cunningham still owns the rights to movies made after the first installment, anything that comes from Friday the 13th Part II onward cannot be used for the series, unless NBCUniversal finds a way to make some kind of deal with Cunningham down the line. Given the acrimonious relationship between Cunningham and Miller, that feels pretty unlikely.
Similar rights issues prevented New Line from using the title Friday the 13th in their movies, so the films released 1993 until 2003 all got around this by using Jason's name in their title instead (Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday; Jason X; Freddy vs. Jason).
Of course, little is known about the plot, and since it's a prequel, it could very well center primarily on Jason's mother, with the disfigured killer being either a child, or presumed dead. In his first adult appearance, Jason wore a burlap sack over his head, so it's also possible we could get that visual at some point down the line.
Crystal Lake represents the first foray into TV for the Friday the 13th franchise since the ill-fated attempt to get on The CW in 2014. Before that, Crystal Lake Chronicles had been proposed, meaning that there have been two Crystal Lake-centric prequels that failed before this one got its order. The last time the property actually made it to TV was in Friday the 13th: The Series, which was syndicated starting in 1987.