A24's 'FRIDAY THE 13th' Prequel Series "CRYSTAL LAKE" Can Use Adult Jason Voorhees!
Yesterday we were bombarded with a slew of crazy horror news and are barely catching up but one story caught our attention like a machete to the face! A24 along with Bryan Fuller are in full development of a Friday The 13th prequel series entitled “CRYSTAL LAKE” exclusively for Peacock! But we have some questions…
Like what will the show focus on besides Mrs. Voorhees and the events leading up to other Friday the 13th characters. We learned that these belong to Rob Barsamian AND Victor Miller? Barsamian is the man behind the company Horror, Inc., the rights holders of the Friday the 13th elements that Victor Miller doesn’t own. The rights we assumed only Cunningham had control of.
We know Sean Cunningham, the original movie’s director, and Victor Miller, the original movie’s writer, have been fighting over who gets control of what.
It was back in 2018 that a judge ruled Victor Miller owns the rights to the original Friday the 13th screenplay in the United States, a decision Cunningham has failed to overturn in the years that have followed. Cunningham, however, owned the character of adult Jason Voorhees, introduced in later sequels, which is why the franchise has long been at a legal standstill.
Last night however, due to the aforementioned update above regarding the characters of the Friday The 13th universe, this means that the “Crystal Lake” series now “has access to all of the other elements from the films,” suggesting that the combined forces of Victor Miller and Rob Barsamian will allow the Peacock series to use anything it wants to. That includes locations and characters, notably adult Jason Voorhees and his hockey mask.
Our sources along with Friday the 13th Part III star/entertainment lawyer Larry Zerner, who has long been our main source of intel on the franchise’s messy legal troubles, have come forward to confirm the above as well.
Zerner tweeted last night, “A little legal info on the TV deal (Reminder: I don’t represent Victor Miller or Horror, Inc.). The TV show is being produced by both Victor AND Horror, Inc. Do you see in the article where it says that Victor and Rob Barsamian will exec. produce.”
He adds, “Rob IS Horror Inc. (not Sean).”
Zerner’s tweet suggests, much like Variety’s report, that Sean Cunningham isn’t the decision-maker in this one as we thought, but rather Rob Barsamian holds the keys to Crystal Lake.
This will bring joy to Friday the 13th fans as this series could possibly be the ultimate fan-gasm for those who love Jason Voorhees. Hell, it’s been 13yrs since we saw the big guy on screen, any screen, and now we might just get him back!
We’ll keep you posted on more as it develops.
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