Crystal Lake, Peacock‘s upcoming Friday the 13th prequel series from studio A24, has found its new showrunner in Brad Caleb Kane (It: Welcome to Derry), Deadline has learned.
In addition to showrunning, Kane will serve as the series’ creator, writer and executive producer. He assumes the reins from Bryan Fuller (Star Trek: Discovery, Hannibal), who confirmed his exit from the project in May, noting that “A24 has elected to go a different way with the material.”
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First announced in October 2022, Crystal Lake‘s plot specifics are being kept under wraps. In addition to Kane, exec producers on the series include A24; Victor Miller, who wrote the screenplay for the franchise’s original 1980 film; Miller’s copyright attorney, Marc Toberoff; Robert M. Barsamian and Robert P. Barsamian. The project will mark A24’s first major IP-driven project amid a recent effort to expand in a more commercial direction.
“From the moment I watched Jason Voorhees squeeze a guy’s eyeball out of its socket (in glorious 3D!) at the tender age of 8 years old, I knew my creative path was someday destined to converge with The Man Behind The Mask,” said Kane in a statement on his Crystal Lake hiring. “Nothing defined my childhood more than growing up in the golden age of the slasher flick, and nothing’s defined the genre more than Friday The 13th. I couldn’t be more excited for the opportunity to contribute a chapter to this iconic franchise, particularly with such fearless partners as Peacock and A24.”
Comprising 12 slashers, first for Paramount and then for New Line, the Friday the 13th franchise is one of the most iconic and enduring horror series in film history. Directed by Sean S. Cunningham, the original film introduced audiences to the scenic Camp Crystal Lake, where a young camper named Jason Voorhees (Ari Lehman) has not long ago tragically drowned due to counselor negligence. Seeking revenge for the death is his mother, Pamela (Betsy Palmer), who processes her grief by brutally murdering a band of camp counselors. In subsequent installments, Jason himself emerges as one of horror’s most recognizable villains, a seemingly immortal, hockey mask-wearing killer who is no friend to teenagers stepping into his domain.
Not the first TV series to expand on the franchise, Crystal Lake follows Friday the 13th: The Series, which aired for three seasons in syndication from 1987-1990. It will be the first project affiliated with Friday the 13th to emerge since a 2009 reboot of the original film from New Line. To date, the films’ impact on pop culture has also been felt through the proliferation of novels, comic books, video games, and merchandise pegged to the franchise.
No stranger to horror, Kane has most recently served as co-showrunner and executive producer of It: Welcome to Derry, an anticipated It prequel series starring Bill Skarsgård, which expands the vision of Andy Muschietti’s recent pair of New Line films, based on the 1986 novel by Stephen King. One of a number of series originally intended for Max that have pivoted to an HBO release, Welcome to Derry premieres in 2025.
Prior to that serving as a writer and executive producer on Max’s Tokyo Vice and Cinemax’s Warrior, Kane is also known for his work on shows like Moonhaven, Lodge 49, Black Sails, Fringe, and Crash. Also co-writing Netflix’s sci-fi thriller Extinction and contributing to the story for Apple TV+’s The Banker, the multi-hyphenate is repped by Kaplan/Perrone Entertainment and attorney Tara Kole of Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole.