Happy campers? More like dying campers.
Just in time for Halloween, Peacock has announced that it has gone straight to series in Crystal Lake, a prequel drama based on the hit Friday the 13th horror film series.
Bryan Fuller, the prolific television creator behind shows like American Gods and Star Trek: Discovery, will write, show and executive produce the series, which will be produced by A24, the studio known for blockbusters like Everything Everywhere All at Once and this year’s horror one-two punch, X and Pearl.
Friday the 13th is the horror franchise that started in 1980 and gave the world Jason Voorhees, the hockey-masked slasher who mostly kills in and around the lush and idyllic grounds of Camp Crystal Lake (except for the rare trip to New York or in space ).
The movies spawned a TV series once upon a time, as well as novels, video games, and a slew of merchandise as the franchise became part of pop culture.
The IP also became embroiled in complicated rights deals as it moved from Paramount to New Line and found itself in a years-long copyright dispute between the original film’s director-producer Sean S. Cunningham and original screenwriter Victor Miller.
In May, Miller won, giving him control of the script and original characters, but not the Friday the 13th title, the idea of an adult Jason, or even the hockey mask, which was only introduced in the third film.
Miller; Marc Toberoff, the copyright attorney who represented Miller in the case. and Rob Barsamian serve as executive producers on the Peacock show, which is described as a drama and can be compared to Bates Motel, the A&E series that ran from 2013 to 2017 and served as a prequel to Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 horror classic, Psycho.
Barsamian is the current holder of the rights not in Miller’s portfolio, including the title and mask. This shows that the two parties are now working together on this project and that these elements could potentially appear at some point.
“I discovered Friday the 13th in the pages of Famous Monsters magazine when I was 10 years old 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 envelope, and I’m excited to explore the Crystal Lake camps 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 had a colorful career. He is perhaps best known for such favorites as Wonderfalls, Pushing Daisies (on which he worked with Rovner during her time at Warner Bros. TV), Dead Like Me and Hannibal. He developed Star Trek: Discovery, American Gods and Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles and was either let go or left all three for various reasons. Most recently, he produced the documentary Queer for Fear: The History of Queer Horror. In the spirit of Halloween, Fuller previously developed The Munsters’ Mockingbird Lane reboot for NBC, which eventually aired as a network special.
“Friday the 13th is one of the most iconic horror franchises in film history, and we’ve been dying to revisit that story with the 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 talented, visionary creator who I have had the pleasure of being a longtime friend and collaborator, along with our incredible partners at A24, on this updated version of the Peacock that will thrill longtime fans of the franchise .”
Fuller is repped by WME and Brillstein Entertainment Partners.
Lesley Goldberg contributed to this story.
Updated Oct. 31, 4:23 p.m., clarifying Barsamian’s involvement and rights status.
