Deadline (via FearHQ.com) has revealed that A24's Crystal Lake TV series has found its Jason Voorhees in Chucky and Long Bright River star Callum Vinson. The actor, born in 2014, will play the child version of the terrifying serial killer, as the show shifts the spotlight to his mother, Linda Cardellini's Pamela Voorhees.
It's previously been reported that Pamela will be portrayed as a mother who gave up a singing career to raise a special needs child. Things take a dark turn when Jason drowns at summer camp—the titular "Crystal Lake"—prompting Pamela to go on a killing spree, making the camp counsellors pay for their negligence.
However, when the young Jason witnesses one of the camp counsellors decapitating his mom, he's inspired to go on a murder spree of his own. There's a supernatural element to the character, but it's thought he survived that apparent drowning and avenges his mother by killing, well, everyone.
Vinson is billed as a recurring guest star, as this is Pamela's story. Nick Cordileone (Warrior), Joy Suprano (Fleishman is in Trouble), Danielle Kotch (Director’s Cut), and Phoenix Parnevik (Bel-Air) have joined the cast as Ralph, Rita, Claudette, and Barry.
Barry was Pamela's first victim in the original Friday the 13th movie, while Claudette was her second. As for Ralph, he's also known as Crazy Ralph and is a longtime Crystal Lake resident who drunkenly rambles about the curse of Camp Crystal Lake.
Over the years, Jason has been played by multiple actors, including Ari Lehman. Others who have (or, like Lehman, sometimes haven't) donned the iconic hockey mask in the original film include Warrington Gillette, Steve Dash, Richard Brooker, Ted White, Tom Morga, C.J. Graham, Kane Hodder, Ken Kirzinger, and Derek Mears.
Crystal Lake won't be the first time this iconic horror franchise has been brought to television, as Friday the 13th: The Series aired between 1987 and 1990. The last time we saw Jason on our screens was in the 2009 reboot.
Bryan Fuller exited Crystal Lake last year, but in 2022, he explained the lengths A24 had gone to in securing the rights to everything needed for this series. "A24 and Marc Toberoff, who is Victor Miller's lawyer, have beautifully and excruciatingly assembled all of the Friday the 13th rights. As a streaming series, we have the rights to do everything underneath the Friday the 13th umbrella."
"The movie rights are a completely different thing," he continued. "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 13th has done up until this point."
Brad Caleb Kane now serves as creator, writer, showrunner and executive producer of the series. A premiere date for Crystal Lake has not been revealed.