Happy Friday the 13th, Supa-Fans! In May of 1980, moviegoers were treated to the first of what would grow to become one of the most popular horror franchises of the 20th Century. Inspired by the success of John Carpenter’s 1978 slasher hit Halloween, Sean S. Cunningham (who previously worked on Wes Craven’s own 1972 directorial debut The Last House on the Left) introduced the world to Camp Crystal Lake, the watery resting place of Jason Voorhees.
While Jason was never originally intended to be the main antagonist of the franchise, with the first movie’s killer later revealed to be his grieving mother, Pamela Voorhees, he would later step out of the murky depths of Crystal Lake and evolve into one of Hollywood’s most recognisable horror icons.
And now, 46 years later, audiences are set to go right back to where it all began, courtesy of the new prequel series Crystal Lake, due to arrive on screen later this year. On this most auspicious of dates, we thought it might be timely to pack our bags and make our way to Camp to uncover what Crystal Lake has in store for us all.
Originally announced in 2022, Hannibal showrunner Bryan Fuller was tapped with the task of bringing the Friday the 13th prequel to life. However, Fuller would later step away from the project in early 2024, and the reins were later handed to IT: Welcome to Derry co-showrunner Brad Caleb Kane in August of the same year.
Interestingly enough, when Kane is not busy helping Stephen King’s Pennywise terrorise the helpless kids of Derry, he also sidelines as a professional vocalist, and is perhaps best known as the singing voice of Disney’s Aladdin. But don’t expect family-friendly fare in Crystal Lake, with the showrunner promising “rivers of blood” and “ingenious kill sequences and deaths and murders” in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.
As for who audiences can expect to see at the centre of Crystal Lake’s barrage of slasher content, Scooby Doo and MCU star Linda Cardellini has been signed on to lead the project as Pamela Voorhees. It is a role that Kane suggests that she is “inconceivably brilliant in” and will receive “a lot of attention for”.
Meanwhile, Callum Vinson, whom audiences might recall from Poker Face season 2 as the aspiring magician who became the target of his sociopathic classmate, is set to play a young Jason.
Prior to Kane taking over from Fuller, it was announced that original Friday the 13th star Adrienne King, the franchise’s OG final girl, Alice Hardy, was also set to appear in a recurring role, though it is unclear whether these plans may have changed with the change in the show’s creative team. Other confirmed cast members include: also include William Catlett (Abigail), Devin Kessler (Godfather of Harlem), and Cameron Scoggins (Shades of Blue).
Set to premiere on Peacock in the US on Friday the 13th of November hopefully it won’t be too much longer until Australian audiences learn where they’ll be able to join in all the blood-stained, camp ground mayhem.
