Friday The 13th TV Series Loses Showrunner Bryan Fuller As Franchise Curse Continues
Death, taxes, and longtime television showrunner Bryan Fuller parting ways with a project he was once involved in. There are only a few constants in life and, well, tax season is over and we're still here talking ... so feel free to take a wild guess about what just happened!
Horror fans are painfully aware of just how much trouble the "Friday the 13th" franchise has had in recent years. Mired for years in a complicated lawsuit between original screenwriter Victor Miller and director Sean Cunningham, the legal proceedings effectively put an end to any thought of continuing the beloved slasher series for the last decade and a half. (Although, last we heard, the court case appeared to have finally come to a close.) Still, one glimmer of hope for Jason Voorhees appreciators — not that any of us would ever condone the serial killer's actions, of course — has been the development of a new prequel series titled "Crystal Lake," with Fuller attached as the showrunner and indie studio A24 producing. Not to be the bearer of more bad news, but consider those hopes dashed.
Variety confirmed an original report by Bloody Disgusting that A24 has decided to retool the entire series, which inevitably led to Fuller parting ways due to good ol' fashioned creative differences. In a tweet (not even Jason himself would stoop so low as to call it a "xeet" or whatever Elon Musk wants), Fuller had this to say:
For reasons beyond our control, A24 has elected to go a different way with the material. We hope the final product will be something Friday the 13th fans all over the world will enjoy.
— Bryan Fuller (@BryanFuller) May 8, 2024
"For reasons beyond our control, A24 has elected to go a different way with the material. We hope the final product will be something 'Friday the 13th' fans all over the world will enjoy."
Friday the 13th the TV series goes back to the drawing board
Honestly, it shouldn't be this hard to get another worthy installment of the "Friday the 13th" franchise. The perpetually cursed slasher series is reeling from its latest body blow ... but perhaps it's not fully down for the count just yet. Variety cites an unnamed source claiming that despite appearances, "the series order remains in place with hopes to line up a new showrunner as soon as possible." That's good news for everyone involved (not named Bryan Fuller, naturally), as production had yet to gear up in earnest along with making any actual casting decisions. Victor Miller remains attached as an executive producer on the project and, thanks to the continued involvement of producer Rob Barsamian, the prequel series is legally allowed to pull from various aspects of the films.
That's more good news for a franchise that's been on life support for quite some time now, despite the fact that the 2009 film made quite a killing at the box office. We haven't received a single other entry in the "Friday the 13th" canon since then for a myriad of reasons — partly creative, as re-emphasized by the Fuller parting ways with "Crystal Lake," but largely due to the copyright lawsuit. For a series that's left as much of a mark on our collective psyche as this one has in the years since the 1980 classic, it's pretty wild that it appears unable to get out of its own way.
As for Fuller, the "Hannibal" creator now adds this prequel series to the incredibly long list of projects he's ultimately left for one reason or another. For "Friday the 13th" hopefuls, at least, this might still end up having a happy ending (relatively speaking). Stay tuned to /Film for further updates.