The horror genre has gone through many reboots and remakes in recent years, and one that has been in development for too long is the A Nightmare On Elm Street remake, which still has no projected release date. New Nightmare‘s Wes Craven is one of the masters of horror, and it all began in 1972 with The Last House on the Left, a controversial exploitation horror movie that put his name on the map, but his biggest hit came in 1984 with A Nightmare On Elm Street. A Nightmare on Elm Street introduced the audience to a one-of-a-kind slasher villain with very specific methods to haunt his victims, leading him to become part of pop culture.
A Nightmare on Elm Street was a critical and commercial success, making way for a franchise with eight movies (including a crossover with Friday the 13th in Freddy vs. Jason) and a remake in 2010 with Samuel Bayer as director. The A Nightmare On Elm Street remake followed the basic premise of the original movie but made major changes to the backstory of Freddy Krueger – this time played by Jackie Earle Harley (Rorschach in Watchmen) – and while it received negative reviews, it became the highest-grossing movie in the franchise. Meanwhile, a new remake/reboot has been in the works for years, and even though other franchises like Halloween and Scream have been successfully rebooted recently, A Nightmare On Elm Street has taken too long.
The Rocky History Of Freddy Kruger Reboots
The A Nightmare On Elm Street remake was first reported in 2015, with writer David Leslie Johnson on board as well as producers Toby Emmerich, Walter Hamada, and Dave Neustadter. The following year, the remake of A Nightmare On Elm Street was said to be in development hell, and Englund shared he was interested in returning but in a cameo role, later saying he would be interested in having Kevin Bacon as the new Freddy Krueger. In 2018, Johnson said the project was still in development, but the studio’s priority was fleshing out The Conjuring universe and its timeline. The latest update on the A Nightmare On Elm Street remake is that the film rights reverted to Wes Craven’s estate, who were looking to resurrect Freddy and looking for feature film pitches and concepts as it could become a TV series, with Englund reprising his role as the iconic Freddy Krueger.
Maybe It’s Time To Retire Nightmare On Elm Street
Currently, a second remake of A Nightmare On Elm Street seems unnecessary, and even if Robert Englund returns as Freddy, it’d be strange to separate this new version from the whole universe he’s already part of. Moreover, the Nightmare On Elm Street movies generally decreased in quality as the franchise went on, even transitioning into self-parody when Freddy conjured the worst possible nightmare by rapping. It’s time to face facts: Englund’s performance and the movie’s once-unique concept made the earlier movies memorable, but at the moment, there are better ways to honor the movie’s legacy than another Nightmare On Elm Street remake. Englund’s Victor Kreel character in Stranger Things, for instance, is a perfect example of showcasing how the iconic movie’s best elements are still highly relevant to contemporary fantasy and horror.
Plans for a new A Nightmare On Elm Street movie can change, and it could follow the example of Halloween and instead be a direct sequel to the original. For now, the project doesn’t seem to be moving forward anytime soon – but maybe that’s a good thing for the franchise and its legacy.
