While speaking recently with Movie Hole, Robert Englund revealed some more details on a prequel project to A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET that had been floated around for a while.
Entitled FIRST KILLS, the project “would’ve told the back-story of how Elm Street’s resident loon became a dream invader.” Englund elaborated on this possibility, saying “there was a great kind of ‘Portrait of a Serial Killer’ kind of docudrama script around, where you see Freddy and his first kills and the courtroom scenes where these really horrible, terrible lawyers keep getting him off; great corrupt lawyers getting him off and then the vigilante parents. Finally in the climax, burning him alive, and maybe you see him manifest, and show up on Elm Street at the very end, where his sort of revenge, reign of terror would be hinted at.”
And while Englund did point out that some of these elements made their way into FREDDY’S DEAD: THE FINAL NIGHTMARE and one of the episodes of “Freddy’s Nightmares,” FIRST KILLS itself never managed to survive as anything more than an intriguing script. But even if it had? Englund thinks its a fair point that he could have only filmed a few more movies as Freddy before having to tap out anyway.
“I could’ve probably done another Freddy or two, but I think that’s when Platinum Dunes acquired the rights along with Warner Brothers from Newline Cinema. Their idea was to reboot the franchise and go with somebody younger who could play, could be the same Freddy for years. I’m almost – even now, I’m almost too old to go out there and do the stunts and stuff. I can do a couple of takes, but then I wake up the next morning and feel like I’ve been playing football. I can barely get out of bed, so I’m having a lot more fun now doing these ‘suit and tie’ roles.”