A New ‘Friday the 13th’ Story Hits a Roadblock
Get ready to be amazed, folks! The mind who gave us the original ‘Friday the 13th,’ Victor Miller, is creating a new series – ‘Crystal Lake.’ News of this hit us like a hurricane on Halloween 2022. The people working on this came from heavy hitters like Marc Toberoff, the lawyer of Miller, and A24, the big-shot production company. Another major player was the popular streaming service Peacock, along with the showrunner, Bryan Fuller, who brought us shows like ‘Hannibal’ and ‘Pushing Daisies.’ With this all-star team ready to entertain us in July 2024, you’d think everything would be smooth sailing.
However, imagine driving a race car and hitting surprise speed bumps. That’s what happened here. Even with big names like Charlize Theron being teased to star and acclaimed directors ready to take charge, things went south. Fuller and Gray got the boot, and A24 decided to change the game plan.
The Birth and Bumpy Ride of ‘Crystal Lake’
A24 birthed ‘Crystal Lake’ in hopes of making a huge splash in the world of commercial media. They wanted to reinvent and dissect the first four Friday the 13th movies in a fresh and exciting way. They had all the ingredients for an amazing recipe: the famous mask, movie sequels, and a bright path. But then things became rocky after a writers’ strike ended. A24 broke their promise of paying the writers for further script work. This created big problems as guild guidelines disallowed the initial script changes by the original writers because they weren’t officially staff members.
Drama Over Budget and Some Executive Trouble
Now let’s talk about money. A whopping $9.6 million was the budget proposed for each episode. But word on the street is A24 planned to slash this figure in half, triggering a shock wave of stress. There are disagreements whether the project was over or under budget. But it seems it was around $4 to $6 million over for the entire season. This didn’t sit well with many. Some pointed fingers at Inman Young, an executive said to lack experience, blaming him for the backstage mess.
Rough Waters but ‘Crystal Lake’ Keeps Rowing
With all these problems, it’s easy to think the show might fold. But that’s not the case. A24 and Peacock have a lot riding on this project, so they’re pushing through, come what may. Big wigs like lawyer Marc Toberoff and NBCUniversal agree that ‘Crystal Lake’ is still in progress. The hunt for a new showrunner is on and Nick Antosca, a co-producer on ‘Hannibal’ might be the one. But we’re not sure if he’ll stick with Fuller’s initial ideas or start from scratch for ‘Crystal Lake.’
In a nutshell, ‘Crystal Lake’ is battling some serious challenges right now. But the team remains hopeful that it will soon be ready for us to enjoy. Here’s hoping for a positive twist of events leading to an epic new ‘Friday the 13th’ series we all can’t wait to see! So, despite the speed bumps, let’s keep rooting for ‘Crystal Lake’ to make it to our screens.
For more details, visit Project Casting Blog on https://www.projectcasting.com/blog/news/crystal-lake-friday-the-13th-series-faces-speed-bumps-due-to-budget-disputes-and-executive-inexperience/