The twelve film, often lucrative Friday the 13th franchise has been on ice for a long sixteen years now, but the hiatus will soon end with the release of Peacock’s Crystal Lake series. The show was announced all the way back in 2022, with Hannibal‘s Bryan Fuller and the original film’s Victor Miller set to write and executive produce it (Scream‘s Kevin Williamson was even set to write an episode for the first season). However, in May 2024 Fuller was let go as showrunner and the series looked to be in serious trouble. Fortunately, it rebounded quickly, with Brad Caleb Kane (who is also serving as co-showrunner on the upcoming IT: Welcome to Derry) being brought on to replace Fuller.
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Some mysteries still surround the series, though. But now that Kane has confirmed via his Instagram account that the shoot has officially begun (under the fitting codename title “Mama’s Boy”), perhaps some of those mysteries will have some light shone on them soon enough.
The Crystal Lake TV show arrives courtesy of A24 banner, which alone inspires confidence; couple with that is the casting of the ultra-talented Linda Cardellini as Pamela Voorhees.
Crystal Lake is the first installment of the new Jason Universe from Horror, Inc. Things are shaping up for Jason and his trusty machete to come back in a big way. We have not only a series to look forward to but also an inevitable slew of films.
It’s been a tough wait to get to this point. 16 years is an awfully long time to go between installments of an A-list horror property. It was starting to seem as though Jason had been forced to hang up the hockey mask for good. But Kane’s Instagram post confirms that Friday the 13th is, in fact, back.
Kane’s post received a few comments from several notable Friday the 13th franchise alum. For instance, Ari Lehman, who played Jason in the original film, who wrote “BRAVO FROM THE OG JASON VOORHEES MAMA’S BOY HIMSELF MORE POWER TO YOU” and Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter‘s Judie Aronson, who commented “It’s showtime! Gogogo!!” Crystal Lake is expected to debut on Peacock at some point in 2026.
The biggest mystery for the Crystal Lake series concerns Adrienne King, who played the first film’s final girl, Alice Hardy. King was cast in a recurring role back when the show was under Fuller, so the question remains whether she’s still a part of the case. It seems unlikely, as Fuller was let go because the show was reportedly going to head in a different direction. King’s return also wouldn’t make much sense in general, considering her character got an icepick to the temple in the opening of Friday the 13th Part 2. If King were to come back as a character different from Hardy that too would push logic, even for this franchise.
Are you excited for Crystal Lake? Let us know in the comments.
