A24 and Peacock’s planned Friday the 13th television series “Crystal Lake” went up in smoke earlier this year, with showrunner Bryan Fuller (“Hannibal”) being fired from the project and leaving the fate of the small screen project unclear. So what really happened? The Wrap just dropped one hell of an exclusive report untangling the behind the scenes mess.
To refresh your memory before we dive in, Peacock had given the project a straight-to-series order in 2022, with “Crystal Lake” being described as an “expanded prequel” to the original Friday the 13th franchise featuring both Jason Voorhees and his mother, Pamela. According to The Wrap’s new report, Charlize Theron was being “eyed” to play Mrs. Voorhees!
Other new details from The Wrap’s report reveal that the episode written by Kevin Williamson (Scream) was going to take place “entirely on a frozen Crystal Lake,” with Williamson recently describing the episode as “an hour-long chase.” Friday the 13th fans have been begging for a Winter-set Friday installment for many years now, and A24 was set to deliver just that.
Additionally, Vincenzo Natali (Cube, Splice) and Kimberly Peirce (Boys Don’t Cry, Carrie) were set to direct episodes, with the budget ballooning to around $10 million per episode. With eight episodes in total planned for the first season, it would’ve cost A24 roughly $85 million to bring the series to life, with additional seasons being planned by the studio.
The Wrap’s report notes, “In the grand ambition of Crystal Lake, each season would be a “deconstruction” of the first four Paramount movies. The series would incorporate lore from several sequels but remix that material in a way similar to Fuller’s Hannibal.”
Vincenzo Natali had recently tweeted, “I have read the first two episodes. Bryan Fuller’s Crystal Lake was well on its way to becoming another Hannibal-level reinvention that was simultaneously beautiful, sad, poetic, funny and horrifying. I mourn its passing.”
So what happened? According to The Wrap, Bryan Fuller was fired from “Crystal Lake” just three months before production was set to begin this summer. The Wrap notes, “Crystal Lake was plagued by inexperienced production executives making questionable decisions, problems with the show’s writing staff and conflicts between showrunners and executives.”
You can read more about each of those issues in The Wrap’s report, which dives deep into a handful of behind the scenes challenges that led to A24 pulling the plug on Fuller’s vision of the series. The good news? A24 reportedly hasn’t given up on the series itself at this time.
A24 and Peacock are now searching for a new showrunner for the series, with Nick Antosca (“Channel Zero,” “Brand New Cherry Flavor”) reportedly in the mix to potentially take over.
The Wrap notes, “According to one source close to the project, A24 is still committed to making the show, although it’s unclear if the studio will use the original Fuller scripts and outlines or start from scratch with new creative leadership.” The website’s report goes on to indicate that if Nick Antosca does end up as showrunner, he would “jettison” the work already done.
For more on “Crystal Lake,” head over to The Wrap and read the full report.
