Freddy never dies, even after a remake tried to kill the character for good not too long ago. Bad, oh so bad. So here we are, five years later, the horrible taste of 2010’s remake still lingering, and New Line Cinema wants to bring back the fedora-wearing slasher back to Elm Street. The Tracking Board (who is usually pretty good about these things) reports that the studio plan to ditch the previous remake (duh!) for a fresh new take.
While the news is still fresh and admittedly pretty hard to swallow, what details we do have is that there’s no producer on board yet, but Orphan scribe David Leslie Johnson will pen the script, who is so far the only ray of light shining on this remake. Here’s why—over the years he has made a nice little corner in the horror world, recently working on AMC’s The Walking Dead and next penning James Wan’s The Conjuring: The Enfield Poltergeist and Disney’s horror Something Wicked This Way Comes. He’s the only talent attached to the project that we know of, so it’s at least a pretty good start and Orphan shows the kind of chops he brings to the genre.
I can’t say that I’m surprised by this news, not only because we get an announcement of a remake almost every day (Jumanji, what!?), but because most of the major horror franchises are getting a facelift… and soon. Friday The 13th, Halloween, and Texas Chainsaw are all actively in development, so it kind of makes sense for New Line to jump on the band wagon.
Their biggest hurdle, however, is that all of those other franchise killers wear masks… so literally anyone could play their roles. Freddy is an entirely different monster, he’s one with a twisted, one-of-a-kind personality that will never reach further than Robert Englund’s iconic performance. We saw just how hard it is to replace Englund’s Freddy back in 2010 when not even the brilliant Jackie Earle Haley could leave much of an impression.
It’ll be interesting to see the kind of response this one gets. Are horror fans willing to give another remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street a shot after what happened last time? On one hand, I’m kind of excited to see them take another crack at it, mostly because it really can’t get much worse… right?
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I’m actually hoping this one gets swept into development purgatory to never be heard from again. It’s a bit too soon, but we’ll see.
I can’t say that’d I’d be upset if that happened. It is too soon, but my only hope is that it can’t get worse.
I used to feel similarly, but as time wears on, and we see new Fridays and Halloweens, I’m realizing that I’m up for anything – Freddy, Jason and Michael are basically today’s Dracula, Frankenstein (monster) and Wolfman. I’ll watch a new one every few years with no hesitation at this point, simply for the familiarity and the chance at a surprising gem. These newer films certainly aren’t always amazing (the Nightmare remake had a few decent things going for it, but more negatives than positives by a wide margin; I was surprised to THOROUGHLY enjoy the Friday remake/recalibration; the last TCSM was a TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE film, etc., etc.), but you just never know when a decent movie might pop up, and I’m REALLY game for that.
I’m not opposed to remakes at all. I really enjoyed Evil Dead 2013 and 2009’s Friday reboot, but it was just a few years ago that they remade Nightmare. I don’t think the bad taste has left people’s mouths just yet. And I completely agree with Rhino in that Freddy is a unique and tough one to nail down. You’re right, though, there is a chance it could be entertaining.
I’m hoping to god Jackie returns. He was the one truly brilliant element of the last remake. That fucker was scary in a way that Englund hasn’t been since 1984. I can’t see anyone else doing as solid a job as he did. “You think you can bring the dead back to life? I DIDN’T FUCKIN’ THINK SO!” such a creepy moment that COMPLETELY won me over Jackie NEEDS to be back.
I agree with him being one of the only decent things about the remake, but if you’re going to remake it (again) you have to go with someone new and take an entirely different approach. Also, that line is pretty damn awesome, what a great moment in an otherwise disappointing film.
I don’t know how I feel about this … Hollywood needs to leave this series alone and just attempt to start something fresh!
Right? Or take the franchise and do something totally unexpected, maybe introduce a new monster to Elm Street. Rebooting it is just so…. meh.
I’ll watch it … But I’ll remain skeptical until proven otherwise!
Haha, yeah we’re both suckers on that front. I’ll definitely watch it and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t excited to see who gets cast as the next Freddy.
Always awaiting the next decent remake 🙂 …
Nothing will ever beat the Evil Dead remake!
No. No, no, no. God. Ugh. Just fuck. No.
Now tell us how you really feel!
I really hope this doesn’t go any further than “suggestion” we don’t need another remake.
Yeah, we’ll have to wait and see what happens now.
I think I’m the only person in the world that didn’t mind the 2010 version….
*checks Rotten Tomatoes* No, you and like 2 other people seemed to have enjoyed it!
Let’s not say that I “enjoyed” it – I just liked it better than say “Day of the Dead 2: Contagium”
Haha! Understood!
Or… say… Birdman…. LOL
Shit, I haven’t seen that one yet but I’m curious to check it out because people either hate it or act like it’s some sort of masterpiece. (I’ll probably hate it.)
I HATED it!
Sounds about right 😦