Peacock Snags Streaming Rights To ‘Friday The 13th’ TV Series

Before the Halloween season wrapped up, news of a Friday The 13^th spinoff series was officially confirmed. Titled, Crystal Lake, the series is currently filming under the capable hands of Hannibal creator Bryan Fuller alongside the company A24. This announcement comes amid legal troubles for the franchise that is still struggling to find its designated streaming platform. However, the rules are different for the spinoff series. So, when does Crystal Lake premiere on Peacock? Keep reading to find out the details!

Friday The 13^th Movie Franchise Is Caught In A Legal Battle

For years, Victor Miller, the original movie’s writer, and Sean Cunningham, the original movie’s director are at heads arguing over their control of the franchise. Back in 2018, a judge ruled that Victor Miller legally owns the rights to the Friday The 13^th screenplay in the United States. However, Cunningham has attempted for years to overturn this decision and failed.

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On the other hand, Cunningham owns the adult character of Jason Voorhees who was introduced in later sequels. This is why the franchise has been at a legal standstill for a long time.

Sean Cunningham Isn’t The Decision-Maker For Crystal Lake

Interestingly, Victor Miller and Rob Barsamian are executive producers of the spinoff series. As per Comicbook, Barsamian owns the Horror, Inc. Company that holds the rights to Friday The 13^th elements that aren’t owned by Miller. So, Cunningham isn’t the only one that holds control over the slasher movie’s elements.

[Source: YouTube]

This simply means that the Crystal Lake series holds access to all the elements from the movie franchise as Rob and Victor join hands. So, the Peacock series can use anything they want to, including characters, locations, and even the adult Jason Voorhees in his hockey mask. However, Sean Cunningham isn’t the decision-maker for the spinoff series. Rob Barsamian holds the key to everything in Crystal Lake.

Friday The 13^th Spinoff Flaunts Big Budget With Two Seasons Confirmed

In his statement, Bryan Fuller talked about the legal rights and said, “A24 and March Toberoff, who is Victor Miller’s lawyer, has beautifully and excruciatingly assembled all of the Friday The 13^th rights. As a streaming series, we have the right to do everything underneath the Friday the 13^th umbrella.”

[Source: YouTube]

“The movie rights are a completely different thing. They are tied up at New Line and are super, super messy and probably won’t be untangled anytime soon, but as far as us chickens in the television industry, uh, roost, we have access to anything and everything that Friday The 13^th has done up until this point,” he continued.

Although Fuller didn’t provide a lot of details on the storyline or premiere date, he did reveal that the series will at least have two seasons. Plus, there is also a big budget assigned for each episode, which is five times that of Hannibal’s budget.