A24 ‘Friday the 13th’ Prequel Series Loses Showrunner Bryan Fuller

The Big Picture

• Friday the 13th
  franchise is facing setbacks, but the show is still moving forward with Bryan Fuller departing.
• Initial reports suggested the show would be shelved altogether.
• The original
  Friday the 13th
  movie is streaming on Max now.

The Friday the 13th Franchise has taken another hit. It has been a crazy week full of conflicting reports for the series, reports said Peacock’s Crystal Lake prequel was being shelved and later reworked. Now, for fans who were finally excited to see Friday the 13th return in some form, it looks like the latter was true, as the series just lost its showrunner Bryan Fuller. This was confirmed by Fuller late Wednesday evening, who also revealed that the series is still going forward.

Posted on the filmmaker’s official social media accounts, Fuller wrote, “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.” He would then compare the experience to Hannibal which Fuller is best known in the horror community for. “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.” Then the Hannibal showrunner’s finished off with the disappointing news stating, “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.”

What We Knew About ‘Crystal Lake’

While specific plot details were kept hidden on the campgrounds, when Crystal Lake received a series order from Peacock in 2022, the series was revealed to be a prequel focused on both Pamela and Jason Voohrees. Pamela, the famous masked killer’s mother, in the 1980’s slasher classic killed the camp counselors of Crystal Lake one-by-one due to its reopening. Two decades before the events of the film, her son Jason would drown due to neglectful counselors. The sequels then followed a resurrected Jason, which is what Friday the 13th is most known for. Another major aspect of the series was going to be that the franchise’s original final girl Adrienne King was going to return as a series regular in an unknown role. Even though Fuller has left Crystal Lake, Friday the 13th’s original screen writer Victor Miller is staying on as an executive producer.

The prequel series had a release window of 2024 before this set back occurred. However, with Crystal Lake seeming still in pre-production that seems less likely as we creep closer to the middle of the year. It’s been a tough time to be a fan of Friday the 13th to say the least, with the last film coming in the form of the 2009 remake. There have been some teases recently about Jason’s return to the big screen, but hopefully A24 and Peacock can get Crystal Lake back on track sooner rather than later, as it sounded like the series was the furthest in development.

Stay tuned to Collider for more updates on Camp Crystal Lake. The original Friday the 13th is streaming now on Max.

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