The Nightmare on Elm Street franchise has seen quite a few "what if?" projects pop up over the years, as several unique writers, directors, and actors have toyed with different versions of the Freddy Krueger narrative. As it turns out, one such person who unsuccessfully tried to make a Nightmare movie was Freddy himself, Robert Englund. I recently had a chance to ask Englund about some famous unmade Nightmare on Elm Street films ahead of the release of his upcoming movie, Nightworld, and he admitted that his unmade take on Part 3 would've expanded on the mythology of Tina Gray from the first film. The horror icon elaborated:
I worked on my own draft for Part 3. Mine would've been about a sister. If Tina had a sister, and Tina's sister would come to solve it.
Those of you familiar with the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise will quickly recognize the name Tina Gray -- the very first victim in the very first Nightmare movie. Although Tina is little more than a sacrificial lamb to propel Nancy Thompson to action during the events of the first film, Englund's version of the third entry in the series would've focused more heavily on her family as her sister comes to Elm Street to investigate the mysterious dream murderer claiming the lives of teenagers.
As many horror fans already know, instead of Robert Englund's version of A Nightmare on Elm Street: Part 3, we eventually got A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors instead, which saw Freddy face off against Nancy Thompson in a mental hospital. It's not his movie, but we have a feeling that he doesn't mind all that much. The film has become widely regarded as one of the superior Nightmare on Elm Street sequels (aside from the original and Wes Craven's New Nightmare, it has the best Rotten Tomatoes score), and it even gave us the now-famous Dokken song, "Dream Warriors."
Of course, Robert Englund's unsuccessful attempt to make Nightmare on Elm Street: Part 3 is just one of many versions of the Freddy story that never made it to the silver screen. In addition to Englund's project, Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson also wrote a Nightmare script that never got made, and many fans have been waiting to see the long-awaited Freddy vs. Jason sequel, Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash, for years. By his admission, Englund thinks that he's growing too old to play Freddy much longer, but if that rumored reboot starring Kevin Bacon ever materializes, this unmade attempt at Part 3 seems like an excellent story opportunity.
You will be able to catch Robert Englund in his latest film, Nightworld, in select theaters and On-Demand on October 20. Beyond that, take a look at CinemaBlend's handy guide to horror movies that we're dying to see, as well as our 2017 movie premiere guide and our 2018 movie premiere guide!
