Wes Craven’s Estate has the rights to Freddy Kruegerback in its possession. Now, a reboot ofA Nightmare on Elm Streetseems imminent and a promising candidate to reinvigorate the franchise may have just emerged. Mike Flanagan, who most recently directedDoctor Sleep, the sequel toThe Shining, has revealed that he’s got a pitch for a new Freddy Krueger flick. He just needs to get in a room with the right people. And, given some recent developments, that seems highly possible.
Mike Flanagan recently took to Twitter, responding to some intriguing news that’s been floating around in the horror world. It’s come to light thatWes Craven’s estate is taking pitchesfor a newA Nightmare on Elm Streetmovie, with the hopes of bringing Freddy back to the big screen after nearly a decade away. Flanagan decided to throw his hat in the ring on social media, saying the following.
“Put me in, coach… I’ve got a pitch!”
Unfortunately, the heralded horror filmmaker didn’t reveal any details about his pitch at this time, but that’s understandable. That said, horror fans who know Mike Flanagan’s work will surely be interested in this prospect.Mike Flanagan, in recent years, has asserted himself as an up-and-coming modern master of the genre. Some of his early efforts such asOculus,Ouija: Origin of Eviland the criminally underseenHushhelped to put him on the map. It was with his adaptation of Stephen King’sGerald’s Game, a novel that had long been deemed unadaptable, really put him on another level. His work on Netflix’sThe Haunting of Hill Houseonly furthered to assert his credibility.Doctor Sleep, despite failing to pick up steam at the box office, has also been widely embraced by critics and audiences.
Point being, Mike Flanagan knows how to do prestige horror.A Nightmare on Elm Street, directed by the late horror master Wes Craven, was released in 1984 and put an entirely new spin on the slasher genre.Robert Englund’s Freddy Kruegerwas able to kill his victims in their dreams. The movie was a huge hit that spawned a long-running franchise, which ran untilFreddy vs. Jasonin 2003. A reboot was made in 2010, but the Samuel Bayer-directed remake was, to say the least, not terribly well-received.
In the years since, there has been much discussion about taking another stab at it. As for what shape that ultimately takes? That largely depends on the filmmaker’s pitch that gains steam. Maybe it could be a full-on reboot. Or perhaps it could be a legacy sequel, ala 2018’sHalloween, which went on to become a massive success at the box office. There is no word on who is going to be pitching the Craven estate, but one very accomplished horror aficionado wants a seat at the table, and it’s hard to argue against hearing the man out. Feel free to check out the original post fromMike Flanagan’s Twitterfor yourself.
