There are a lot of filmmakers out there who would love to direct a NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET movie. Franchise star Robert Englund has said he has one more Freddy Krueger performance in him, original heroine Heather Langenkamp has expressed interest in coming back to face off with Freddy once again… New Line Cinema has had many options to make more money off the ELM STREET series, but they've just been ignoring Freddy in favor of the Conjuring Universe. Maybe something will get rolling now that the copyright for the original film is in the hands of Wes Craven's offspring.
The latest pair to express interest in making an ELM STREET movie are producers Elijah Wood and Daniel Noah, whose production company SpectreVision has brought us films like MANDY, COOTIES, A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT, and THE GREASY STRANGLER. Speaking with ComingSoon.net, Wood and Noah revealed that working on ELM STREET would be a dream come true for them.
NOAH: We have long fantasized having a crack at NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET. So has Adam Egypt Mortimer, who we just made DANIEL ISN'T REAL with. That film and ELM STREET have somewhat obscure but still tangible similarities of dream worlds. As people have been seeing DANIEL ISN'T REAL, interestingly, there’s been a little movement on Twitter for Adam Mortimer to take over NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET. We’ve made no secret. We’ve been in touch with the rights holders many times. It’s a real dream project for us to have a chance to make a film in that franchise. And like I said, we have a very specific take on it. I think it would be very surprising and exciting to remake the franchise.
WOOD: Yeah, and it definitely has that aspect of pie in the sky, of getting to play in a certain sandbox, you know? It’s a universe and a character and an idea that would be a fun sandbox to play in. It’s trying to do something different. With a lot of these classic horror films that have seen so many sequels, eventually it sort of plays itself out a little bit. It’s also interesting to think about what could we do with a franchise like that, which reinvents itself or creates something that is playing with the tone and key of the franchise, but is doing it differently or taking it in a slightly new direction. It’s a fun way to think about those things.
NOAH: There’s also an understandable aversion to stirring the pot too much with a formula that’s been successful. John Carpenter’s original conception of the HALLOWEEN franchise was that every year, there would be a new Halloween story. He never intended for like a Myers return, and when the studio kind of forced that as a sequel, he was able to finally come back around with Part 3. He said, “No, I want to do my thing.” And he did SEASON OF THE WITCH, which we think is an incredible HALLOWEEN film. Incredible. The fans were extremely confused and angry because they had established this expectation of HALLOWEEN is Michael Myers. I think it’s understandable. You don’t want to shake up a formula that’s working. But on the flipside, when you’re just repeating the same formula, it’s kind of diminishing returns. They already did that well, is our point of view. That’s been handled. What are other avenues, what are other neighborhoods in this world that can be used or investigated?
So Wood and Noah have been in contact with the rights holders and even seem to know who they'd like to have direct an ELM STREET movie for them. We'll have to wait and see if anything comes of this.
Would you like to see a SpectreVision ELM STREET movie directed by Adam Egypt Mortimer?