Amid the trend of reboots and legacy sequels in the horror genre, I’m disappointed about the future of theA Nightmare on Elm Streetfranchise, but the fate of another 1980s horror saga gives me hope. The horror genre has greatly benefited from reboots and legacy sequels, through which some of the most popular franchises have been brought back, though not all of them with the same success. Surprisingly, one horror franchise that hasn’t seized these trends isA Nightmare on Elm Street, despite contemporary sagas likeHalloweenproving reboots can be (mostly) successful.
In 1984, Wes Craven broughtA Nightmare on Elm Street, which introduced the world to a one-of-a-kind slasher: Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund).What Krueger doesis attack his targets in their dreams, as they are at their most vulnerable there, but if he kills them in dreams, they die in real life too. Freddy Krueger went on to terrorize more characters in six sequels, a crossover, and a remake, and surprisingly, he hasn’t returned in a reboot – and the most recent update on the franchise’s future is very disappointing.
A Nightmare On Elm Street’s Reboot Is Facing Rights Issues
Unfortunately, There Are Some Legal Obstacles Behind A Nightmare On Elm Street
The last movie in theA Nightmare on Elm Streetfranchisewas the 2010 remake, and since then, there have been different updates – both encouraging and disappointing – about the franchise’s future. In 2015, a second remake was reportedly in development, but the following year, it was said to have fallen into development hell. However, in 2018, writer Leslie Johnson said that aNightmare on Elm Streetrebootwas still happening, but New Line Cinema’s priority at the time wastheConjuringuniverse(viaGameSpot).
In 2019, it was announced that thefilm rights toA Nightmare on Elm Streethad reverted to Wes Craven’s estate, and months later, it was reported that the estate was working on future project pitches for the franchise. These pitches included a new movie and a TV series for Max, and the idea was to have Robert Englund back as Freddy Krueger (despite past comments about not reprising his role). After years of no more comments on the future ofA Nightmare on Elm Street, an update has now arrived, and though it was expected, it’s still disappointing.
Brener said he hopes there will be a new Nightmare on Elm Street movie soon, but admitted that it’s complicated because of the rights to it.
Speaking toTHRin April 2025, New Line’s CCO, Richard Brener, was asked about the future of theA Nightmare on Elm Streetfranchise, and it’s not an optimistic update. Brener said he hopes there will be a newNightmare on Elm Streetmovie soon, but admitted that it’s complicated because of the rights to it. With the rights reverting to Craven’s estate,New Line Cinema only retained international distribution rights, so if they wanted to make a new movie, Craven’s estate would have to cooperate.
A Nightmare On Elm Street’s Rights Issues Are Reminiscent Of Friday The 13th’s
Friday The 13th Has Been Involved In Rights Issues For Years
The current rights issues ofA Nightmare on Elm Streetinevitably bring to mind those of theFriday the 13thfranchise. Created by Victor Miller, theFriday the 13thfranchise introduced slasher Jason Voorhees, who would go on to face Freddy Krueger himself in the 2003 crossoverFreddy vs. Jason. TheFriday the 13thfranchise has a total of 11 movies (including the crossover) and a remake, but its future has been quite messy due to an even messier conflict with the rights to it.
The core of the conflict is thatboth Victor Miller, who wrote the first movie, and director Sean S. Cunningham have been claiming ownership ofFriday the 13thfor years. Miller claimed that, as the writer of the firstFriday the 13thmovie, he deserved ownership, but Cunningham claimed to be the real owner, as it was his idea and Miller was hired to write it. After years of conflict, in 2018 a U.S. District Court Judge ruled in favor of Miller, and though Cunningham appealed, Miller’s win was held up.
The conclusion of this chaotic journey is thatMiller was able to reclaim the rights to the firstFriday the 13thmovie, but Cunningham retained control of the intellectual property of the sequels. This is why, if Miller wanted to remake his own movie, he could, or make a movie with the same concept as the firstFriday the 13thmovie, but he can’t use adult Jason Voorhees with his hockey mask and machete as those don’t appear in the first movie. In the end, theFriday the 13thfranchise is expanding with the prequel seriesCrystal Lake, with Miller producing.
It seemed at various points that the rights issues ofFriday the 13thwere not going to end and the franchise wasn’t going to expand anymore, but to my surprise, there was a solution, though maybe not the one we hoped for. If it was possible forFriday the 13thto find a way to continue without more issues with the rights and who owns what,I like to think the same could happen withA Nightmare on Elm Streetif New Line and Craven’s estate can reach an agreementor the latter sells the rights back to the studio.
Why A Nightmare On Elm Street Needs A Reboot Or Sequel
A Nightmare On Elm Street Deserves One More Chance To Make Things Right Again
As fun as the trends of reboots and legacy sequels have been, I admit not every horror franchise needed to return through these.Final Destination, for example, had a pretty cool conclusion withFinal Destination 5, andScream 4was a satisfying ending totheScreamsaga, but I’m definitely not mad that we’re getting a sixthFinal Destinationmovie and I’ve enjoyedScream’s reboot movies a lot. Other franchises, however, definitely needed a new chance, even if some of them didn’t succeed, as happened withHalloween,Child’s Play, andTexas Chainsaw Massacre, for example.
If the franchise had ended withFreddy vs. Jason, it wouldn’t have been so bad.
A Nightmare on Elm Streetfalls into the latter category, asthe remake wasn’t a worthy conclusion to the franchise. The remake couldn’t replicate what made Craven’s movie so scary yet fun, added unnecessary backstory to Krueger that changed the character for the worse, andJackie Earle Haley was miscast as Krueger, who was also given a new but not exactly better or scarier look. If the franchise had ended withFreddy vs. Jason, it wouldn’t have been so bad, even if it ended on a cliffhanger, but the remake was a big disappointment.
Supposing the current issues with the rights toA Nightmare on Elm Streetare solved, the franchise could return in different ways – whether it’s a remake, a sequel (maybe one to the first movie, ignoring all sequels), a prequel, or even a TV show, but it’s a franchise that deserves one more chance to improve its legacy.
