Over the past decade, reboots and revivals of major horror movie franchises have become major business for Hollywood studios. The 2018 revival of Halloween not only became the highest-grossing slasher movie of all time with $259 million worldwide, but it also offered a legacy-sequel blueprint for a slew of others to follow suit. Scream, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and Candyman all arrived with varying levels of success in the time since. Two major franchises were left waiting in the wings, though, and though Friday the 13th is on track to deliver a new TV Series, A Nightmare on Elm Street and Freddy Krueger were left waiting in the wings.
It’s been previously reported that reviving the A Nightmare on Elm Street series for the big screen would be a tough one as the rights to the original film reverted back to Wes Craven’s estate in 2019. Now, though, one studio has broken through and made a deal with the Crave estate to reboot the property. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Paramount and the Wes Craven estate have made a deal to revive the series, with the “Paramount Primal” genre label at the studio set to produce the film. Fans have been waiting on this news for over a decade, but it begs the question, will the long-awaited return of Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger actually happen?
With the 1984 original movie, Wes Craven not only delivered the start of a brand new franchise with A Nightmare on Elm Street but an iconic big screen boogeyman with Englund as the sweater-wearing, knife-glove-wearing, and wicked-sense of humor having Krueger. Over the year the franchise evolved to not only continue reworking the idea of a killer that could haunt you in your dreams, but to give Englund’s Krueger a backstory, but also a wicked sense of humor.
Englund would reprise the role across eight movies (including 2003’s Freddy vs Jason) but saw Jackie Earle Haley take over for the 2010 reboot (the last entry in the series). As a result, the appetite to see Englund back as the character has been a big one for fans, and news of the new A Nightmare on Elm Street has naturally spurred demand that he return to the character that made him a household name.
If Robert Englund isn’t involved, keep that shit! https://t.co/mM5CubZkWt
“Apparently set in the same universe as the originals so please bring back Robert Englund,” one fan wrote in response to the news. It’s worth noting, of course, that news of the new Nightmare film came with the reveal that it was “set in the world of A Nightmare on Elm Street, based on the original screenplay,” which isn’t exactly confirmation that it will be set in the same canon as the original movies but rather the same verbiage used for any kind of new reboot, revival, or sequel, with the same language used for the 2010 movie despite having a slew of changes made.
Unless Robert Englund is Freddy pic.twitter.com/QEJwgpO5qA
“I’m a huge Elm Street fan, but 2010 remake was completely awful and it’s another one of those films that doesn’t need to be remade. Again,” wrote one fan. “If anything, give us a prequel with Robert Englund instead.”
There’s one problem with the hope that Robert Englund returns to the role, though, as the actor just turned 79 last week on June 6. As a result, with no writer or director attached, that means development on a new A Nightmare on Elm Street is still a ways away, meaning Englund could be eighty years old by the time cameras start rolling. Englund has been open for years about his love for the series, but also how tough it would be on him to return in some way to play the character decades after his last appearance.
“I’m not gonna lose any sleep over not being Freddy anymore because I’m just too old for the part,” Englund previously told ComicBook back in 2020. “I couldn’t face the makeup for six weeks or eight weeks. I couldn’t do the stunts. I’m just getting older now. They’re gonna need a new actor to play it. And, again, even more than the new actor to play Freddy, I just think that they need to really explore all the new technology for really ramping up the nightmare sequences using all the new technology that they have at their disposal for effects.”
J.D. Lifshitz and Raphael Margules, the producing team behind Barbarian and Friendship, are spearheading the Paramount Primal line and will executive produce the new A Nightmare on Elm Street. In a statement, they wrote, “We can’t remember a time before we were fans of Wes Craven. The fact that Iya and Jonathan have entrusted us with this opportunity to help usher a new story into this world is an honor beyond words. We look forward to working alongside them to bring a terrifying new nightmare to audiences everywhere, and to welcome Freddy home.”
