Biography Flash: Jason Voorhees Goes Prestige with A24's Crystal Lake Series

Jason Voorees Biography Flash a weekly Biography.

Look, I'm not gonna lie to you—tracking a fictional slasher villain's "recent developments" is basically my brand at this point, so buckle up because the Friday the 13th universe is absolutely *losing it* right now.

First things first: Jason Voorhees is officially getting the prestige television treatment. A24 and Peacock just wrapped filming on a brand new series called "Crystal Lake," which is a prequel to the original 1980 film, and it's set to drop sometime this year. Now here's where it gets interesting—and a little messy, frankly—because this show has had more behind-the-scenes drama than most actual slashers have body counts. Bryan Fuller was initially attached as showrunner, had complete creative freedom with the franchise, but then got fired in May 2024 because A24 wanted to "take things in a different direction." Translation: sometimes even the best creative minds don't vibe with the machine. Brad Caleb Kane stepped in, and they actually got Linda Cardellini—yes, *that* Linda Cardellini—to play Pamela Voorhees, Jason's mother. Filming wrapped just a few months ago, so we're genuinely close to seeing this thing.

Here's the thing that kills me: for years, the Friday the 13th movie rights have been absolutely tied up in legal hell at New Line Cinema. Like, genuinely messy. But the TV side? That's been unlocked, which is why A24 could do whatever they wanted with the character and the lore. It's basically the difference between getting a Michelin-starred chef versus ordering takeout, except in this case both turned out to be pretty ambitious projects.

On the pop culture side, Jason's still making convention rounds. Ken Kirzinger, who played Jason Voorhees in some of the later films, was spotted doing appearances at places like the Niagara Falls Comic Con. And earlier this month, the Days of the Dead horror convention in Las Vegas had C.J. Graham—who played Jason in "Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives"—appearing alongside heavy hitters like Eli Roth and David Howard Thorton. So the character's not just alive in scripted television; he's *alive* in the fan convention circuit.

Look, what we're watching here is the evolution of a cultural icon. Jason Voorhees went from being a silent killer in a hockey mask to a character so embedded in our collective consciousness that A24 thinks he's worth serious money and serious talent. That's biographical significance, my friends.

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