Paramount has a major horror name attached to its newly named Paramount Primal genre label, and he wears a grubby red-and-green sweater and a glove tipped with razors. After nine A Nightmare on Elm Street films, including the Friday the 13th crossover Freddy vs. Jason and the regrettable 2010 remake, a tenth trip into the land of dream demons, pun-tastic insults, gory deaths, and nursery rhymes is on the way. According to a press release, “the [as-yet] untitled film is priority development under Paramount Primal; plot details have yet to be revealed, but it will be set in the world of A Nightmare on Elm Street, based on the original screenplay.” The rights to that original screenplay, the basis for the hit 1984 slasher, were licensed from the estate of Wes Craven, who died in 2015. This is exciting news, but there’s something rather important missing from the press release: will Robert Englund return to play Freddy? While we love Jackie Earle Haley, it just felt wrong to have him (or anyone not named Robert Englund) taking over the killer role in the 2010 remake.
There’s also no word on who might be writing or directing. But truthfully, getting Englund back in some capacity (he’s 79, but he’s still acting; remember his creepy turn in Stranger Things?) feels like an essential element for this new Nightmare‘s success.
