One, two, Freddy’s coming for you. Yes, it’s true: a new Nightmare on Elm Street movie is in the works. The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that Paramount Pictures has secured U.S. rights to the iconic franchise after negotiations with Wes Craven’s estate, which includes his son, Johnathon Craven, and widow, Iya Lubunka.
“We look forward to bringing the world of Wes Craven’s Nightmare on Elm Street to a new and completely engaged generation of fans,” said Labunka in a statement. “We know that Wes would have been thrilled to see how horror is taking its long overdue place in the cultural canon. We can’t wait for all of us to sit together in a dark theatre – around the campfire of today – as the next chapter of the Nightmare story unfolds.
When the original franchise launched in 1984, it became a goldmine for then-independent New Line Cinema, earning the company the nickname “the house that Freddy built.” Copyright law allows authors to reclaim rights after 35 years, enabling the Craven estate to do just that in 2019.
The project will be the first film under Paramount’s new label, Paramount Primal, headed by J.D. Lifshitz and Raphael Margules, who produced Zach Cregger’s breakout film Barbarian as well as Weapons, Companion and Friendship. The duo is prolific in the world of “smartly-budgeted,” better known as “low-budget,” film and previously had a production deal with New Line.
Lifshitz and Margules will executive produce for Paramount Primal. WME, Industry Entertainment, and Ziffren Brittenham LLP represent the Wes Craven estate.
No details have been revealed about the reboot, though THR said it’s been described as “set in the world of A Nightmare on Elm Street, based on the original screenplay.”
Photo credit: New Line Cinema.
Jenny Catlin is a writer and pop culture enthusiast based in the square states. She’s a contributing writer to The Athletic, a Lighthouse Writers Book Project Fellow, and an award-winning essayist obsessed with obsession. You can find her on Instagram or Substack.