A ‘Friday the 13th’ Prequel Series Is Coming

For much of the 1980s and into the 1990s, the Friday the 13th series was as dependable as death and taxes. Every year or so, Jason Voorhees would rise from the grave to torture the latest batch of visitors to Camp Crystal Lake or, eventually, folks in Manhattan or even outer space.

The entire franchise was rebooted in 2009, but while the movie was a financial success like almost every other Friday the 13th film, it marked the end of the franchise, at least in the short term. Various sequels or reboots were developed, but nothing ever made it to the screen. Jason finally got to enjoy a few Fridays off, that lucky guy.

But it looks like Camp Crystal Lake is about to see a major uptick in teenage murders, as Peacock has announced they are developing a Friday the 13th prequel series. Dubbed Crystal Lake, the show will be created by Bryan Fuller, the man behind the Red Dragon and Silence of the Lambs prequel television series Hannibal. Fuller’s other shows include American Gods and Star Trek Discovery.

Also involved is Victor Miller, the man who wrote the original Friday the 13th screenplay. Last year, Miller, who is an executive producer on the show, won a lawsuit that granted him the rights to his original script — although it’s worth noting that (spoiler alert!) in the original Friday the 13th movie from 1980, it was Jason‘s mother rather than Jason himself, who was the killer. Additionally, Jason never appeared in the original film in his trademark hockey mask. That could perhaps explain the decision to make a prequel, since Jason wouldn’t be the killer on such a show anyway.

Fuller seems like a smart choice for this sort of material; he knows how to make something interesting and modern with preexisting IP, and how to make a disturbing TV series. It may be worth noting this is not the first Friday the 13th show; a syndicated TV series aired for three seasons in the late 1980s. That show, though, had essentially no connection to Camp Crystal Lake or Jason Voorhees or any of the events of the movies.

We’re gonna guess the new show will be a little bit closer to the source material.