Peacock orders Friday The 13th prequel series from Bryan Fuller
Hannibal's Bryan Fuller will serve as showrunner and executive producer on the Friday The 13th prequel Crystal Lake
Here’s a Halloween treat for all you scream queens out there: Peacock has ordered a new Friday The 13th series from television auteur Bryan Fuller. Few details have been released, but Variety describes Crystal Lake as an “expanded prequel” with the original film’s writer, Victor Miller, on board as an executive producer alongside Fuller. Indie horror haven A24 will serve as the studio behind the series and will also EP with Marc Toberoff and Rob Barsamian.
Fuller himself is a certified horror aficionado whose credits include the 2022 TV movie adaptation of Carrie, the beloved cult classic NBC series Hannibal, and most recently the docuseries Queer For Fear: The History Of Queer Horror. “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,” the showrunner said in a statement. “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.”
Rovner, the chairman of entertainment content for NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, said in her own statement, “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. 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.”
While Jason Vorhees is the star of the slasher franchise as we’ve come to know it, in the original film the killer was revealed to be his mother. Mrs. Vorhees terrorized the counselors of Camp Crystal Lake to avenge her son, who drowned while attending the camp in the ’50s. He was eventually revealed to be alive and assumed the role of killer in the sequels. There’s plenty of material for Fuller to work with there, and he’ll no doubt do so in his signature subversive manner.