Friday The 13th Is Officially Changing Formats When It Returns In 2 Months

Friday the 13th is about to undergo its biggest shake-up since the franchise began back in 1980. During the height of popularity for slasher horror, Jason Voorhees took his place among the pantheon of all-time greatest slasher monsters thanks to his menacing presence in the supernatural horror series, Friday the 13th.

Over the years, Jason has gone on to have a presence in a total of 12 feature films, including one film where the character crosses paths with Freddy Krueger of A Nightmare on Elm Street infamy. However, throughout his run, Jason has largely been confined to the big screen.

Well, that is all about to change when the upcoming prequel series, Crystal Lake, debuts on Peacock in October. The series stars Linda Cardellini as Jason's mother, Pamela Voorhees, and seeks to go back and definitively answer important questions about where the nightmare begins.

The First Friday The 13th Show Had No Connections To The Movies

While Crystal Lake will serve as the first official Friday the 13th spin-off TV show, there was another show that took the mantle of the films back in the 1980s. Friday the 13th: The Series aired between 1988 and 1990, and despite having no connection to the franchise that popularized that name, it chose to lean into potential confusion among audiences and use the name to its advantage.

Despite the conscious effort to deceive audiences, it seems as though the ruse failed to take hold, and very few people ended up watching the show before it was ultimately canceled. That being said, there were a handful of cast and characters who crossed over between this project and the film franchise, from director David Cronenberg to producers like Frank Mancuso and a handful of actors.

While this in no way endorsed the show as an official part of the wider Friday the 13th universe, it is an interesting detail that adds further confusion, considering the show is primarily concerned with an old antiques store full of cursed items, and there is never any mention of Crystal Lake or Jason Voorhees, though presumably it could have been suggested.

Crystal Lake Is The First Major Friday The 13th Release Since 2009

While fans of the Friday the 13th franchise may be anxiously anticipating a milestone 13th entry in the franchise on the big screen, Crystal Lake is taking that coveted spot in the lineup, with this series being the first notable release since 2009. Beyond that, there are comic book crossovers, novels, and even video games expanding the lore of this franchise.

However, with another official entry into the saga, set to revisit the origins of the story and give Pamela Voorhees a larger part to play after her fascinating inclusion in the earlier films, it will be exciting to see how Crystal Lake ties into the films and what elements it establishes that can enhance the rest of the canon.

While the popularity of the slasher genre is not what it used to be, several notable franchises like Halloween and Scream have returned to the big screen in recent years, with these films bringing in solid profits and occasional acclaim. In the era of streaming, it seems worthwhile to take this story to a new, more modern platform, but Crystal Lake should lead to more from the Friday the 13th franchise as a whole.

Whether that means expanding the show into multiple seasons or reviving the slasher franchise on the big screen, now is the time to bring Jason Voorhees back to the fore and get audiences excited to see his story play out on screen. But much of the future of this franchise could rely on the success of their new streaming venture, as Crystal Lake sets the stage for a new era of storytelling for these stories.