The Friday the 13th prequel series, Crystal Lake, is still set to scare its way onto Peacock even though Bryan Fuller will no longer be showrunning the project.
We first found out about the project back in late 2022, with Fuller steadfastly attached. Fuller, however, went to Twitter X yesterday and shared: “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.”
“Adapting classic horror is something I have some experience with,” Fuller wrote in an earlier threaded tweet. “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.”
It’s clear that Fuller is implying that A24 and Peacock weren’t willing to take a similar leap with Crystal Lake, a recurrent theme, it seems, for Fuller, who left Star Trek: Discovery soon after co-creating it as well as the show American Gods after the first season.
One of his shows that definitely took a leap and was rewarded for it was Hannibal, which Fuller was clear to point out on X as well. “When it works, as with HANNIBAL, the results can be powerful for the storytellers and the audience,” he wrote. “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.”
Despite Fuller exiting Crystal Lake, the series, per Entertainment Weekly, is still moving ahead, although a new showrunner has yet to be announced. The show is able to leverage events from the first Friday the 13th film, although not its sequels, which means that the hockey-wearing Jason Voorhees is off-limits (although the young, sweet boy named Jason who dies in the lake remains in play).
What this means for the actual story of the upcoming show remains to be seen, especially given the creative turnover. Time will tell where the horror series ends up, though it will still likely end up streaming on Peacock in the next few years. [ed note: As for Fuller, he’s still at work on his feature film debut, Dust Bunny, which is set to star Sigourney Weaver, David Dastmalchian, and Mads Mikkelsen—so we know Hideo Kojima will be seated.]
