Friday the 13th Timeline: Every Movie, In Order
Every Friday the 13th film in release and story order — and exactly where Crystal Lake sits.
Quick answer: the story begins with Crystal Lake (2026), set in 1972 — eight years before the original Friday the 13th. The twelve films then run from 1980 to 2009, with Jason X flinging the timeline to the year 2455. Below: every entry in release order and story order, and where the show fits.
The Full Timeline (Release Order)
| # | Title | Released | Set (approx.) | In one line |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Friday the 13th | 1980 | 1980 (prologue 1957–58) | Pamela Voorhees murders the counselors preparing Camp Crystal Lake’s reopening; survivor Alice Hardy decapitates her. |
| 2 | Friday the 13th Part 2 | 1981 | ~5 years later | Jason is alive and grown, wearing a burlap sack; he kills Alice and guards the camp from new counselors. |
| 3 | Friday the 13th Part III | 1982 | The next day | Jason takes his first hockey mask from a victim; Chris Higgins seemingly finishes him with an axe. |
| 4 | Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter | 1984 | Days after Part III | Jason wakes in the morgue and rampages back to Crystal Lake; young Tommy Jarvis apparently kills him. |
| 5 | Friday the 13th: A New Beginning | 1985 | Years after Part IV | A copycat killer wears Jason’s persona at Tommy’s halfway house; “Jason” is really Roy Burns. |
| 6 | Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives | 1986 | Present day (1986) | Tommy accidentally resurrects Jason with lightning; Jason is chained to a boulder at the bottom of the lake. |
| 7 | Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood | 1988 | Some years later | Telekinetic Tina Shepard accidentally resurrects Jason; their battle sends him back to the lakebed. |
| 8 | Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan | 1989 | Shortly after Part VII | An electric cable revives Jason; he follows a senior class cruise to Manhattan and melts in toxic waste. |
| 9 | Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday | 1993 | Present day | The FBI blows Jason apart; his heart possesses bodies until his niece stabs him into Hell. |
| 10 | Jason X | 2001 | 2455 (after early-2000s capture) | A cryogenically frozen Jason wakes on a spaceship in the future and becomes Über-Jason. |
| 11 | Freddy vs. Jason | 2003 | Present day | Freddy Krueger revives Jason to scare up his own worship; the two icons collide at Crystal Lake. |
| 12 | Friday the 13th (2009) | 2009 | Reboot timeline | A remake retelling the first film’s setup — Jason already masked and mobile. |
| — | Crystal Lake (Peacock series) | 2026 | 1972–73 | A spiritual prequel: Pamela Voorhees, the summer her son drowns, and the experiment that made him impossible to kill. |
Story years are approximate: the films almost never state a year outright, so the column uses the franchise-standard readings (Part 2 jumps ~5 years, Part III is the next day, The Final Chapter follows immediately, Jason X mostly takes place in 2455).
Where Crystal Lake Fits
The series is the earliest story in the franchise's chronology — a spiritual prequel set eight years before the 1980 film. It shows the drowning the films only flashback to, gives Pamela Voorhees her rampage's origin, and ends with a campfire scene that restages the opening of Friday the 13th Part 2: the legend of the boy in the lake, told to a new generation of counselors. The 1980 film can now begin.
Release Order vs. Chronological Order
Chronological: Crystal Lake (1972) → Friday the 13th (1980) → Part 2 → Part III → The Final
Chapter → A New Beginning → Jason Lives → The New Blood → Jason Takes Manhattan → Jason Goes to Hell → Jason X
(flashbacks, then 2455) → Freddy vs. Jason → the 2009 remake is a separate reboot timeline.
Release order is how the films were written and is still the best first watch — the series was
built as sequels, and two of its biggest twists (Part V's copycat, Jason Lives' resurrection) only land that
way. The two orders only really disagree about where to start, and now the answer to that is: Crystal Lake.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Crystal Lake a prequel or a reboot?
It's a spiritual prequel. It rewinds to 1972 — eight years before the 1980 film — and rewrites parts of the mythology on purpose (the drowning's year, Pamela's backstory, why Jason can't die), rather than remaking the original.
Is Crystal Lake connected to Friday the 13th?
Yes. It shares the camp, the Voorhees family, the town and the 1980 film's opening murders — restaged in 1972 — and ends by walking Pamela straight to the doorstep of the original movie.
What order should you watch Friday the 13th in?
Release order is the standard recommendation: the films were made as sequels, and Part V's copycat twist and the reboots land differently in that order. Chronological order starts with Crystal Lake (2026), set in 1972.