Bryan Fuller Breaks Silence on Crystal Lake Cancelation Rumors, Addresses Friday 13th Prequel Future

Bryan Fuller has shared an update on the Friday the 13th prequel series Crystal Lake, which was reported to have been canceled by A24. Despite the rumors shared by Jeff Sneider in his The Insneider newsletter, the series is very much still alive at Peacock – but without Fuller as showrunner with the production team deciding to take a different approach to the one suggested by the Hannibal creator.

Peacock originally greenlit Crystal Lake as a straight-to-series order in October 2022, aiming to delve into the origins of the infamous Camp Crystal Lake before it became the setting for Jason Voorhees’ many killing sprees. With the rights to the Friday the 13th franchise in a tangled mess, it has been 15 years since a new addition to the franchise, and fans have been patiently waiting for the legal wrangling over who owns which aspect of the story to conclude. Last year, it appeared that the rights issues had finally been resolved, and with that came an announcement of a new movie heading into production and Peacock’s prequel series.

Crystal Lake

Cast

Frank Volpe , Emily Meissner , Jackie Watkins , Karle Gwen

Seasons

1

Studio

A24 Television, Crystal Lake Entertainment, Emmett/Furla/Oasis Films (EFO Films)

Creator

Stephen Dodson

However, Fuller himself confirmed today that Crystal Lake is still coming to Peacock, but A24 have decided to take the project in a different direction. Posting on his X/Twitter account, Fuller explained:

“Adapting classic horror is something I have some experience with. These shows require a vision that elevates and transforms, as well as delivers what audiences have come to expect, which is an ambitious and risky endeavor. It requires people to take the leap with me. When it works, as with HANNIBAL, the results can be powerful for the storytellers and the audience. I couldn’t be more proud of the work my co-showrunner Jim Danger Gray and I were able to accomplish with our brilliant writing staff despite the challenges we faced. For reasons beyond our control, A24 has elected to go a different way with the material. We hope the final product will be something Friday the 13th fans all over the world will enjoy.”

Little Was Revealed About the Plans for Crystal Lake

The anticipation for Crystal Lake was high thanks to the announcement that the series would act as both a prequel, but also feature Jason somewhere down the line – similar to the way Fuller’s Hannibal series incorporated and used the novels of Thomas Harris after starting out as its own story. Additionally, Adrienne King, the original Friday the 13th final girl Alice Hardy, was confirmed to be joining the cast in a secret recurring role. While the series was originally set to begin production in 2023, it is believed that the series suffered the same setback as many shows and movies that were hit by the Hollywood strikes between March and November.

While it seems that Crystal Lake is still coming to Peacock at some point in the future, there is also the potential for a new movie still being whispered about in the kind of dark places that most people fear to tread. Original director Sean Cunningham has teased a return to the franchise, and Jason Blum has also expressed an interest in acquiring the rights to reboot the series himself with James Wan as director.

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Of course, all of these movie plans rest on the ability for the grown men who own the various parts of Friday the 13th’s mythology to come together and make an arrangement for it to happen. Until that point, all the plans and hopes for Jason thrashing his way into cinemas for a new generation are as dead in the water as he once was.