Movies

Friday the 13th Prequel Series Crystal Lake in the works at Peacock – The Hollywood Reporter

November 1, 2022

Happy campers? More like dying campers.

Just in time for Halloween, Peacock announced that he’s gone straight to the show on crystal lakea prequel drama based on the hit horror movie franchise Friday 13.

Bryan Fuller, the prolific television creator behind shows like american gods and Star Trek: Discoverywill write, pitch and executive produce the series, which will be produced by A24, the studio known for blockbuster films such as Everything everywhere all at once and this year’s horror punch, X and Pearl.

Friday 13 is the horror franchise that launched in 1980 and gave the world Jason Voorhees, the masked hockey slasher who mostly kills in and around the lush, idyllic grounds of Camp Crystal Lake (save for the rare getaway to New York or in outer space).

The films spawned a television series once before, as well as novels, video games, and a host of merchandise as the franchise became part of pop culture.

The IP also became entangled in complex rights deals during its move from Paramount to New Line and was caught up in a years-long copyright dispute between the original film’s director-producer Sean S. Cunningham. and original screenwriter Victor Miller.

In May, Miller emerged victorious, giving him control over the original script and characters, but not the Friday 13 title or the concept of an adult Jason or even the hockey mask, which wasn’t introduced until the third movie.

Miller; Marc Toberoff, the copyright attorney who replaced Miller on the case; and Rob Barsamian are executive producers of the show Peacock, which is described as a drama and can be compared to Bates Motelthe A&E series that ran from 2013 to 2017 and served as a prequel to Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 horror classic, psychology.

Barsamian is the current holder of the rights not in Miller’s briefcase, including the title and mask. This indicates that the two parties are now working together on this project and these items could potentially appear at some point.

“I discovered Friday 13 in the pages of famous monsters magazine when I was 10 and have been thinking about this story ever since,” Fuller said in a statement. “When it comes to horror, A24 raises the bar and pushes the boundaries and I’m excited to explore the of camping crystal lake under their banner. And [NBCUniversal’s] Susan Rovner is simply the best at what she does. It is a pleasure and an honor to work with her again. »

For his part, Fuller has a colorful track record. He is perhaps best known for such critically acclaimed yet contested favorites as Wonderfalls, grow daisies (which he worked on with Rovner during his tenure at Warner Bros. TV)dead like me and Hannibal. He has developped Star Trek: Discovery, American Gods and Anne Rice Vampire Chronicles and was let go or quit all three for a variety of factors. More recently, he produced the docuseries Queer for Fear: The Queer Horror Story. In keeping with the spirit of Halloween, Fuller previously developed The Munsters to restart Way of the Mockingbirds for NBC, which eventually aired as a network special.

“Friday 13 is one of the most iconic horror franchises in cinematic history and we have been dying to revisit that story with our upcoming drama series Crystal Lake,” said Rovner, president of entertainment content at NBCUniversal Television and Streaming. “We look forward to working with Bryan Fuller, a gifted and visionary creator who I’ve had the pleasure of being a longtime friend and collaborator, and our incredible partners at A24, in this updated version for Peacock. which will delight long-time fans of the franchise.

Fuller is replaced by WME and Brillstein Entertainment Partners.

Lesley Goldberg contributed to this story.

Updated Oct. 31 at 4:23 p.m. clarifying Barsamian’s involvement and rights status.