Jason Universe Turns Friday The 13th Into Dreaded Cinematic Universe

Robert Barsamian, President of Horror, Inc., said in a statement, “We’re excited to work with Victor Miller and Marc Toberoff on new projects we’ll announce in the coming months.” Barsamian funded the original movie and also executive produces several sequels, along with the upcoming A24 and Peacock Crystal Lake prequel series. Miller wrote the original Friday the 13th and obtained domestic rights to the film after filing a lawsuit.

It’s unclear exactly what this so-called Jason Universe will encompass, but it’s an interesting announcement, to say the least. There have been 12 movies in the franchise to date, starting with the original Friday the 13th, which came out in 1980. The most recent movie, also titled Friday the 13th, came out in 2009.

What’s strange about the Jason Universe announcement is the fact that the franchise hasn’t seen a new film in over a decade now. Presumably, one of the upcoming announcements will be a new film in the series, but you would think the studios would test the waters with that film before committing to a full-on “universe” experience. Perhaps these activations are being used to hype up the aforementioned Crystal Lake series

With that being said, Crystal Lake has yet to announce a release date, and showrunner Bryan Fuller exited the series earlier this month. Needless to say, if the series is going in a new direction and doesn’t currently have a showrunner, it probably will be a while before we see the series come out.

It’s possible that the Jason Universe website might provide us with some updates on the Crystal Lake series, but we’ll just have to wait and see.

Crystal Lake is a planned prequel series that is produced by A24 for Peacock. Adrienne King, who played Alice Hardy in the original Friday the 13th, was the only cast member announced so far.

So, it’s strange that the Jason Universe announcement was made before we’ve even learned anything about Crystal Lake’s release date.

In 2023, there was also news of a possible reboot film for the franchise in the works, with writer Jeff Locker saying he, Jeremy Weiss, and Sean Cunningham made a pitch to the studios. Locker also said had plans for a direct sequel to the original film. There hasn’t been any recent news about these films either, so it’s possible the Jason Universe website could include updates about these as well.

The Friday the 13th horror franchise is one of the most successful and beloved horror franchises of all time, so there will undoubtedly be some fan interest in Jason Universe, whatever it may be. If you want to learn more, the Jason Universe website allows users to sign up for announcements. We’ll keep you updated about this project in the meantime.

Source: IGN