UPDATE: Following the report below, Bryan Fuller took to Instagram last night to clarify the “retooling” that’s apparently being done on A24’s Crystal Lake series.
Said Fuller:
“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.”
That’s right – A24 is, indeed, moving ahead with Crystal Lake, but it will no longer be happening with Fuller at the helm. Reports indicate that a new showrunner is being sought even as we speak.
ORIGINAL POST FOLLOWS: Last night, Jeff Sneider (of The InSneider) revealed that A24 and Bryan Fuller’s long-gestating Friday the 13th TV series, Crystal Lake, was kaput. ““It’s unclear whether this is a permanent decision or a temporary one,” Sneider said at the time, and with that, the horror crowd once again found itself staring down the barrel of a Friday the 13th project that might not come to fruition. With this realization came the requisite wailing and gnashing of teeth.
But, wait! There’s now an update to The InSneider’s original story: according to our friends over at Bloody Disgusting, rumors of the plug being pulled on Crystal Lake may have been exaggerated.
Says Bloody Disgusting:
“According to Bloody Disgusting’s sources, however, A24 has NOT killed off Crystal Lake at this time. We have confirmed the show is still happening, but there is some retooling of the project happening behind the scenes. We’re digging for more info. Stay tuned.”
Reading between the lines here, it sounds as though Crystal Lake is undergoing some sort of restructuring (or, in BD’s words, “retooling”) and that this has created some sort of delay. With no official word from A24 or Peacock, who greenlit Crystal Lake to series all the way back in 2022, it’s really anyone’s guess as to what’s going on with the show. Maybe there’s been a massive change of plans to the first season narrative. Maybe extensive rewrites are taking place. For the time being, all we have to go on is “retooled, but not canceled.”
Crystal Lake was initially announced back in late 2022, and was described as an “expanded prequel” to Friday the 13th, one that would include both Jason Vorhees and his mother, Pamela. In an interview we conducted with Fuller around that time, he told us something slightly different:
“I don’t think I’m allowed to say just yet, but I would say it’s less a prequel series than a … pre-remake-uel series.”
He also elaborated a bit on what kind of deal had been struck with Peacock:
“One of the things that is super exciting and one of the many reasons that we went with Peacock is that they blew every other competitor out of the water. There was a bidding war on this, and they came in strong and gave us a full-season commitment with a huge penalty if we don’t do a second season. So it’s kind of a two-season commitment (laughs), but really just the first-season commitment. We’re going to have roughly five times the per-episode budget that we had on Hannibal.”
So, folks, for the time being, it sounds like we don’t need to abandon hope quite yet! We might be waiting around for a minute before we hear an official statement from either Peacock or A24, but we’ve been waiting a while for this one as it is – what’s a few more months? Stay tuned for further updates on Crystal Lake as they become available.
