Last August, we caught word that New Line Cinema had hired ORPHAN screenwriter David Leslie Johnson to go back to the roots of A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET and script a remake more worthy of the original than the 2010 remake was. Although nearly a year has passed since then, we have heard nothing more about the project, so it's hard to tell if it's going to get off the ground or not.
Someone who wants to be involved with the next NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET is the franchise's former star, the original Freddy Krueger himself, Robert Englund. During a recent Q&A at the Belfast Comic-Con, Englund said,
Well, there’s been some talk that they might reboot Nightmare 3, which may be the most popular of all the films. I’ve heard that they may combine it with part 4, I’m not sure. I would certainly like to be invited to do a cameo, to maybe play the cantakerous old professor or the group therapy guy that doesn’t believe they’re having nightmares. I think it would be fun for the audience."
Englund was famously out of the loop during the long development of FREDDY VS. JASON, a film he was firmly attached to from the start, so we may not really be looking at an ELM STREET 3 and 4 mash-up for the next reboot, and as he says, "I'm not sure." But his desire to play a role in it is certain.
Fans seem to be split on this. While some agree with Englund that it would be fun to see him playing a different part in a new ELM STREET, others have taken a "Freddy or bust" stance – the only character they want to see Englund playing in a NIGHTMARE movie is Freddy Krueger, and since Freddy doesn't need to be a physically demanding part, they see no reason why the actor – who will be turning 69 on June 6th – can't get under the makeup at least one more time.
During the Q&A, Englund also responded to a fan asking him what he thought of the much-maligned remake:
The problem with the remake was that it came out too soon. We had just released the digitally remastered Blu-ray boxset of all eight of the films and then they brought out the remake almost straight after.
I think they just brought it out too soon but it had an amazing cast. Rooney Mara played Nancy and I’m a big fan of Clancy Brown. But they reshot the opening and it threw the movie off kilter. You don’t ever see any of the people happy go-lucky, they’re never untainted. You need to see before and after so you can invest emotionally with the children. They’re practically zombies from the get-go because they’re haunted by Freddy and I think that was a miscalculation."
Englund also praised his Freddy successor Jackie Earle Haley as "a wonderful actor", but criticized the approach the remake took to the character.
I think in trying to make him different, they may have decided to make him too real. Freddy does not exist in reality, he only exists in imaginations."
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