The horror renaissance of recent years has seen Michael Myers and Pennywise return to theater screens, with Chucky, Jason and Candyman all on the way back in one form or another. One horror icon conspicuous in his absence is Freddy Krueger, and although Aquaman screenwriter David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick is attached to a reboot, it hasn't happened yet. The screenwriter addressed the Nightmare on Elm Street reboot, saying:
It's still happening. Nothing is percolating just yet. The Conjuring universe is sort of first and foremost on [New Line Cinema's] horror burner.
While not especially encouraging, David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick's comments to GameSpot keep hope alive that the reboot of A Nightmare on Elm Street is not dead. It simply is not a priority at the moment. The way he puts it, it doesn't sound like there is any movement or work being done on it yet, but there is still the intention to do it eventually, The Conjuring 3 is just more pressing and important for the production studio at the moment, so that's where the focus is.
David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick is scripting the third installment in the successful Conjuring series, which will be directed by Michael Chaves. So perhaps once he is done with that, things can start moving forward on A Nightmare on Elm Street. However, David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick is also attached to Dungeons & Dragons and Invasion of the Body Snatchers, so he has a fair bit on his plate.
That said, he realizes that the desire is there and that means that sooner or later, this franchise will return, as he says:
Everybody wants to see Freddy again I think, so I think it's inevitable at some point
On that point, it is hard to disagree. The last attempt to reboot the franchise was 2010's A Nightmare on Elm Street, and that film was viewed as a disappointment. But in recent years, horror icons have been making big comebacks in financially and critically successful films. Freddy is one of the (if not the most) recognizable horror icons, so his return to our dreams and theater screens seems inevitable.
Given the success of the genre and films like this year's Halloween, it is frankly somewhat surprising that A Nightmare on Elm Street isn't a priority at New Line. With a major horror franchise at its disposal, you would think that New Line would want to strike while the horror genre is hot and fast track a high quality reboot.
But I guess something has to come first and The Conjuring franchise is more of a known and reliable commodity at this point, and with good reason. The franchise has just had its biggest success to date with The Nun and has grossed over $1.5 billion worldwide overall.
A Halloween-style refresh for Freddy could be huge and given the recent success of both new, original horror and reboots and remakes of classic properties, the time has never been more right for Freddy to make a comeback. Despite that, for now it seems like we'll have to wait at least a while longer for a reboot of A Nightmare on Elm Street.
We'll keep you updated on the latest on this reboot should it eventually materialize, but in the meantime there are plenty of horror movies hitting theaters next year. Check out them and all of 2019's other big movies in our 2019 release schedule.
