Peacock’s New ‘Friday the 13th’ Series Is Officially Going Places the Movies Never Could

Published Oct 6, 2026, 4:00 AM EDT

Thomas Butt is a senior writer. An avid film connoisseur, Thomas actively logs his film consumption on Letterboxd and vows to connect with many more cinephiles through the platform. He is immensely passionate about the work of Martin Scorsese, John Ford, and Albert Brooks. His work can be read on Collider and Taste of Cinema. He also writes for his own blog, The Empty Theater, on Substack. He is also a big fan of courtroom dramas and DVD commentary tracks. For Thomas, movie theaters are a second home. A native of Wakefield, MA, he is often found scrolling through the scheduled programming on Turner Classic Movies and making more room for his physical media collection. Thomas habitually increases his watchlist and jumps down a YouTube rabbit hole of archived interviews with directors and actors. He is inspired to write about film to uphold the medium's artistic value and to express his undying love for the art form. Thomas looks to cinema as an outlet to better understand the world, human emotions, and himself.

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For over 45 years, the Friday the 13th series has been a mainstay of horror cinema and pop culture at large. With countless sequels, reboots, and revivals to its name across all forms of media, audiences will never have enough of Jason Voorhees and the terror that ensues at Camp Crystal Lake. The latest entry in the saga takes fans back to the earliest point in the Jason timeline. Crystal Lake, the upcoming Peacock series produced by A24, is a prequel to the original 1980 film and follows the dark, troubled past of Pamela Voorhees, the mother of the iconic horror villain. Plot details remain under wraps, but showrunner Brad Caleb Kane promises that its inaugural season will provide all the slasher thrills and shocking kills that the franchise is known for. Crystal Lake stars Linda Cardellini as Pam Voorhees, William Catlett as the town's valiant police sheriff, and Callum Vinson as a young Jason before donning the hockey mask.

As part of the Collider Screening Series, Perri Nemiroff moderated a Q&A with Brad Caleb Kane and William Catlett after audiences were given a tease of the new horror series. Kane, who previously worked on IT: Welcome to Derry, is rooted in the history of horror, and Friday the 13th has been a part of his life since his youth. Despite the pressure of living up to such a beloved franchise, Kane relished the opportunity to focus on a grounded, isolated story about the complex turmoil of Pam Voorhees, played with exceptional gravitas by Linda Cardellini. In the conversation below, Kane discusses the long journey of developing a Friday the 13th prequel, working with Cardellini, and expanding the franchise's characterization in his TV series.

Below is a full transcript of the conversation between Kane, Catlett, and Nemiroff, with the full video of the Q&A available above.

Brad Caleb Kane on the Long Road to Getting 'Crystal Lake' Made

Kane is a lifelong fan of the series.

Image via Peacock

BRAD CALEB KANE: I was sitting up there when the face came off, and it was a lot of fun to hear the gasps in the audience. There are a lot more extended moments like that throughout the season, so you're going to see a lot of blood.

PERRI NEMIROFF: It's a pretty epic one. You set the bar quite high early on in the show there.

Let's go back to the beginning a little. I want to hear about getting involved and getting everything going, because we've been talking about a Friday the 13th series for a while. There were starts and stops, but you all made it happen. Was there anything like a story idea, a person that got involved, something that happened that made you know, “This version that I'm involved in is going to become the real deal”?

KANE: All I knew before I got involved was that they wanted a Pam Voorhees prequel. That's all I knew, because that's where they were at when there were other people involved in it. I had come to the very end of Season 1 of shooting Welcome to Derry. It was a very long shoot, because we had two strikes, so we stopped and started a lot. I didn't know if we're going to get a Season 2. I don't know if people would like the show or if it would be popular. So, as anybody who's in this industry knows, I was looking for another job, and I noticed that they were doing a Crystal Lake show. I had been a longtime Friday the 13th fan. A lot of people say that, but I saw all these movies growing up in theaters with giant crowds, a thin layer of pot smoke over the theater, the blue light cutting through, screaming at the screen about what not to do and what to do. The first one I had ever seen was Friday the 13th Part III in 3D. I saw every other one in theaters after that. It was just in my heart and soul. I know these movies, chapter and verse. I had the novelizations, for God's sake. I was that [much of] a nerd! I knew I had to get involved and I pitched them. It was a lot of people pitching takes, and it was pretty detailed and they dug it. And here we are.

'Crystal Lake Is an Exploration of Grief

"How am I going to get this woman to come off the dock?"

Image via Peacock

William, I'm curious to get your take on that a little bit, because any time you add a new installment to an iconic horror franchise, the pressure is through the roof. What was the very first thing that happened, either in prep or on set, that made you stop, look around at everyone and go, “You know what, this is going to work”?

WILLIAM CATLETT: Those who came at 10 a.m. and waited in line to see this, I just want to say, thank you. [Audience claps]. The prep was the enthusiasm of Brad. When we met on Zoom, he was so excited about it ,and it's contagious. You just want to really bring your best foot forward. Reading with Linda Cardellini, a seasoned actor, a pro, you could just fall in love with those eyes. I knew Levon and her were walking the same plane dealing with grief. Once we’re on set and you're at Camp Crystal Lake, you just sink right into it. I remember the scene where she's on the dock, and she's looking out at the water, and I'm thinking, “Wow, how am I going to get this woman to come off the dock?” I think about my wife and how I lost my wife, and you get that later on in the season, and “how can I rescue her?” Because that's his job. His job is to serve and to protect, and you don't think you're going to fall in love with this person, and then you get to discover who this person is that I'm having feelings for.

'Crystal Lake' Features "Direct Recreations" of Scenes From the Original Movies

Kane also reveals if we'll see Jason's iconic hockey mask at any point.

Image via Paramount Pictures

Brad, another thing I'm really eager to hear about are the rights. We're always talking about getting the rights to something like Friday the 13th and how difficult it can be. In this particular case, I believe you had everything at your fingertips. Can you give us a couple of examples of elements of the franchise that were high priorities to incorporate here, but then also, tell us about some things that maybe you considered using, but then thought, “No, not the right fit for Season 1 of the show”?

KANE: It's so hard to answer this question without giving away a lot of spoilers, and I don't want to give away a lot of spoilers because there's so many. It's hard to tell from one episode. There are so many treats for longtime fans, and even people who've never seen the franchise at all. There's so many treats coming up for longtime fans–I am going to get into spoiler territory. I can't help myself. There are direct recreations of scenes from the movies done in the series, with done in a slightly different context, but things where you just watch these things and it's like candy for the longtime fans. Luckily, I am a longtime fan, so I could decide what the candy was going to be. I made it very sweet for all of us!

There were no real parameters. They had everything, basically, except we knew we were doing a Pam Voorhees prequel, and so you can only do so much stuff. There was no talk of using Jason in a previous incarnation–Jason didn't exist in the series. As a Friday the 13th fan, you can't do a fucking Friday the 13th show without Jason, you just can't. So, I used Jason, and I used him liberally throughout the series. We obviously can't use the hockey mask because the hockey mask doesn't come into it until Friday the 13th Part III, but that's not to say there's no mask in the show and no iconic mask in the show. Again, take that as you will. You'll just have to watch the series. I used everything that I felt like I could to tell the story I wanted to tell.

How 'IT: Welcome to Derry' Prepared Brad Caleb Kane for 'Crystal Lake'

HBO recently renewed its prequel series for Season 2.

I want to go back to Welcome to Derry for a moment. It's really special to have worked as a showrunner on two series that are continuing the legacy of iconic horror characters. Can you tell me something about working on that show that came in handy making Crystal Lake, but then also something about making a Friday the 13th show that had its own unique challenge to it?

KANE: One of the things that came in handy on working on Welcome to Derry was working directly with Andy Muschietti, who's just a brilliant, brilliant director who knows how to scare and has a great pop sensibility. Working closely with him and watching him pull together all the elements on that show was really, really instructive. Coming into Crystal Lake, I kind of knew what I wanted to do with it. I knew all the elements I wanted to use. I've done this now for a number of years. I've done TV for about 16 years or something like that. I've done so many genre shows. I come from a horror background. I grew up seeing all kinds of janky B-horror movies in theaters, like The Beast Within. Prophecy was the first one I remember–the big guy in the bear suit popping up and freaking me out at six years old. I kind of knew what I wanted to do at that point. You do enough TV, you're in the business enough, you develop your own aesthetic, you know what you like to see, and then you just wrangle all the departments together and you make a show.

Bringing up this and Welcome to Derry is making me want to ask you this question, William. We were just at Fantastic Fest and we were asking this question a lot there because it's a genre festival, but also just because I enjoy thinking about it. I want to know a horror movie that you sincerely believe you could survive, and I want you to tell me how you would survive it.

CATLETT: But you know that I'm black! I don't know how long I would survive in a horror movie! [Laughs]. I think I might survive Michael Myers, because he moves kind of slow, and I'm pretty quick.

That’s the wrong answer, man!

CATLETT: When it comes to Jason, I'm going to try to gather some troops, and I'm not going to run in the woods and fall, because that's usually when people get caught.

Brad Caleb Kane and William Catlett Praise Linda Cardellini's "Brilliant" Performance in 'Crystal Lake'

"She's really dragging bodies."

Image via Peacock

Let's talk a little bit about Linda [Cardellini] now. She's exceptional.

KANE: Isn't Linda brilliant in the show? [Audience claps] She's so good in the show, and she just gets crazier and crazier.

William, I'll get this from your perspective first. What is the very first thing you saw her do on this set that made you go, “My god, you are taking it to an 11, and I feel so honored to be a witness to that?"

CATLETT: I think when we were at the fair, and I'm running after her in the water, and the performance that she gives, because there’s like maybe a hundred extras there, and everybody just stops, and you're just like,” wow.” She's like, “why did you bring me here? Why did you bring me here?” I got to try to walk it back, you know, because I'm like, “you need to get out. You need to come out.” I’m also trying to get to know her a little bit more outside the cop uniform. Just seeing her work was just a joy.

Brad, with that character, you and your team write a great script. You're really excited about that version of the character, but I love how the nature of collaboration is that other artists, like her, can bring something new out of the character you wrote. Is there anything about the Pam we see in the finished show that surprised you, and was only possible because of what she specifically brought to the role as an actor?

KANE: The immensity and the palpability of her grief, which is just electric and comes off the screen. That's one thing. The other thing that's amazing about Linda that I didn't realize but was clutch when we were actually making this thing is her physicality. Her physicality in that whole last 20-25 minute scene is exhausting. When we were in there and she's [covered in blood] and swinging the machete and out in the woods, she's really dragging bodies, you know, she's really dragging bodies. I think she'll be the first one to tell you how exhausting that whole thing is. She was such a trooper and so physical and [had] endless energy. Can I just tell a quick story about Linda in that scene, which I think everybody will find funny? You'll remember in the scene when she first cuts the guy's face off, you'll remember that. We cut to her, and she has a lot of expressions on her face while she's watching. Well, Linda is the consummate actor, and she gives you options to use in the editing room. Those were her versions of giving me seven different options. Then I saw them in the editing room and she's like, “hey, which reaction did you use?” All of them! When she first started, she was like, “fuck you, Brad, come on!” [Laughs] I just used them all.

Calum Vinson's Love for 'Terrifier' Got Him the Role of Jason

"He loves holding the machete."

Image via Cinaverse

I've got to talk a little bit about casting Jason, too. You’ve got Callum Vinson in that role. When you are casting a young actor to step into the shoes of one of the most iconic horror characters of all time, what specifically are you looking for in that stage of the process?

KANE: Callum's audition was incredible. Then I asked him what his favorite horror movie was, and who his favorite killer was, and he said Art the Clown from Terrifier. And this kid is like nine at the time! And I was like, “oh, you're hired You get it!” He’s just a great actor and kind of a crazy kid, and he loves holding the machete. You can tell, when he's holding it up, when we were doing our “Amblin” Jason scene, and he's holding up the machete. He just loves that machete.

Now I want to broaden this to all of the other characters around these two. Can you walk us through the process of figuring out who the other main characters of this series should be? The people you want to give their own fleshed-out arcs to, but also move Pam and Jason's story forward in the way that the series demands?

KANE: Well, you need legacy characters from the movies. Obviously, we were always going to have Crazy Ralph. You need your prophet of doom. And Nick Corleone is absolutely incredible as Crazy Ralph–there's a lot of Ralph in it. Ralph has a story. You have to have Dorf from the original. Dorf has more of a life, more of a story, more character to him. Trudy, Rita, we just wanted to get some legacy characters and then it requires invention. It’s a small town–you need a small town sheriff. We invented Levon Brooks, and Will came in and just embodied the character. He's a cop from Newark who got burned out in the big city and came to a small town for peace and quiet, and obviously it doesn't work out that way. We needed our Gary Cooper because it goes to that place–the strong, staunch, silent, stoic leading man–and Will just embodied that so beautifully. I even wanted a High Noon sequence because I wanted our Gary Cooper, so I gave that to Will, and you'll see it later on in the season, but he's great.

William Catlett Wants To Be the Next Blade

"I don't know why they couldn't make it happen."

Image via Marvel Studios

William, you make a big impression as Levon in this show. I have to imagine that when this opportunity comes your way, the appeal of being in a Friday the 13th series is just the greatest thing in the world, but when you learned more about the character you would be playing, what was something about Lee that made you know to your core, “This character is going to be creatively fulfilling for me to sink my teeth into?"

CATLETT: It was probably the depth because I had just done Abigail and I wasn't looking to do another horror film. My manager at the time said, “Why did you pass on Crystal Lake?” I said, “Well, nobody gave any context about it.” So then they said, “We're going to send you the scripts and the sides.” Then I read the sides, then I met Brad, then I met Linda. Now I’m invested.

As an actor, because you may have some actors in here, you know, they get down to the top choices of who they're going to go with. And I'm like, “Man, I would really love to help Brad with this, and I hope it comes my way.” After the chemistry reading with Linda, I had a pretty good idea that we’ll have a lot of fun together and it happened.

I don't want to box you into one genre and one genre alone, but you both know horror is my favorite. I’d like to see you in it a little more. Can you tell me one thing that remains on your horror moviemaking bucket list?

CATLETT: I can't say what I want to do here. [Audience laughs]

Speak it into existence!

CATLETT: If I say it, it may cause issues.

KANE: Well now I’m curious!

CATLETT: I wouldn’t mind doing Blade. [Audience cheers uproariously]

KANE: Oh my God, I would kill to see you as Blade!

CATLETT: I worked with Wesley [Snipes]. I don't know why they couldn't make it happen, but that’s something I would like to do.

I want to see it happen!

Going back to your character in this show, I wanted to ask you about working with Devin [Kessler] because that was another connection early on in the series that really worked and popped for me. Can you tell us a little bit about working with her, but also tease their brother-sister dynamic, and why they need each other throughout the season?

CATLETT: Well, Devin and I were born at the same hospital in Alexandria, Virginia. I did not know that until I met Devin. Devin in real life and in the show is a black woman, and she comes with all that spice, which is awesome that she brings to Brianna, and she really cares about Levon and she wants him to be okay, and she knows what he's going through. She just brings a lot of spunk and honesty. She's super intelligent, and I need her to investigate some things that I'm quite not understanding and trying to figure out. She just has an incredible job, and we bonded right when we got on set. We just hit it off right away.

Episode 1 of 'Crystal Lake' Is Just the Beginning of a Glorious 'Friday the 13th' Tribute

"A lot of really gnarly kills are coming."

Image via Peacock

Everybody just saw Episode 1. I want to be able to hype up what's to come. First, can you each tell me about a time on this set when you looked around at what was happening and thought to yourself, "It is just the coolest thing ever that we're adding this to the Friday the 13th franchise?"

KANE: Gosh, I was going to say being on set with Jason, but that would be a spoiler, wouldn't it? I think, adding other genres to it. Obviously the slasher genre is amazing, and we come to those movies to have a collective experience with people in a room, but with TV, you come for the characters. I had to figure out other things to do with it. Being a longtime fan, there are going to be a lot of gnarly kills. There's going to be a lot of stuff you're not going to believe and stuff that harkens back and teases the original movies, and sometimes dives directly into the original movies. These movies came out of the 70s, and it was the time of another one of my favorite genres: the paranoid 70s thriller. It would sit comfortably in that a little bit. We went through the scripts and broke the story. They worked together really well. I'm doing several of my favorite genres in one–the ABC Afterschool Special, that's in here, too. It all worked really well. It's a tough needle to thread, but that was fun.

As that question dribbled out of my mouth, I'm like, “How are you going to answer that without spoilers?” That was really well done!

KANE: I just want to give spoilers because I just want to throw candy at the audience!

CATLETT: I think for me, when I'm on set, I’m so locked in. With Tony, our script supervisor, I would look to him to see if he was enjoying it, because he's been doing it for so long. He’s seen so many great performances, and then he would look at me and say “Will, it’s going to be a really big show. You better get ready. I can feel it. I don't think you know what you're getting yourself into, but it's going to be huge.” Brad was doing such a great job. He'll look over, and he'll give a thumbs up. Not that an actor should look for the thumbs up, because you might not get it, but we will come over [with the thumbs up], and I know that he was tweaking and making sure he was getting everything right for you guys. I'm excited for you all to go on that journey for eight episodes.

KANE: And it really is a journey. It's a ride. It was designed that way.

I've got one last question and then I'm going to send everybody out into the night – Halloween Horror Nights! To highlight more members of the ensemble or people who are working behind the scenes, can you each name something that you saw a cast or crew member do on this set that made you think to yourself, "That was incredible, and I can't wait for the world to get to see what you did?"

KANE: Johann Kunz, our special effects supervisor of the practical effects, building that rig with the blood bag, which is basically a diving bell, and putting the stuntman in it and watching how Johan had to reset it multiple times and keep the man safe, just how he designed that gag. Because you have this thing, you put it into a script and it's like, “well, somebody else will figure out how to do it.” For this, it was Johann Kunz, and he did, like, “chef’s kiss.” It was fun to watch him play his trade like that. He’s a real craftsman.

CATLETT: There's a scene you guys are going to see later on in the series, but it's Ralph, Dorf, and Levon, and we're in it. It was like a tennis match, and one actor was trying to take the scene from the other actor, and the other actor was killing it more than the other actor, and you just got to take it. When you guys see it, you’re going to be like “wow, man, these guys were really bringing it. Brad has done an amazing job with the incredible cast. Everybody's really great. You get story, you get the slashing, and you get depth. You get all the things you want in eight hours, so congratulations.

KANE: And a lot of really gnarly kills are coming.

Crystal Lake premieres exclusively on Peacock on October 15, 2026.

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  Pamela Voorhees

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  William Catlett

  Levon Brooks

• Cameron Scoggins

  Dorf

• Danielle Kotch

  Claudette