Ask any horror fan worth their salt and they’ll no doubt swear blind that there’s no Elm Street without Robert Englund.
Even in 2010, when Englund endorsed the casting of Jackie Earle Haley as Freddy Krueger, long-time fans of the slasher series still pined for Robert Englund’s inimitable performance as the Midnight Mangler.
Now, almost a decade later, and there’s been no movement on the planned reboot of A Nightmare on Elm Street. While some reports mulled over the possibility of bringing back the original cast – similar to how Halloween of 2018 brought back Jamie Lee Curtis and many of her co-stars – Robert Englund has been quick to play down any potential reunion with the Elm Street franchise.
He is, however, willing to chime in with a cameo. Speaking with Too Fab (h/t Dread Central), the horror legend waxed lyrical about Elm Street‘s legacy and how happy he was to see the rights return to Wes Craven’s estate.
Nobody’s talked to me. I’d love to be invited to do a cameo in any project, but I don’t want to play Freddy. I think there’s a tradition of cameos in remakes in. Especially in horror and science fiction and fantasy films or musicals — I think Rita Moreno is in the new Spielberg “West Side Story” doing a cameo — it’s like you give a blessing to the project if you do a cameo. I think that would be fun. But I’m very encouraged now that the rights have returned to the Craven estate because I really like Wes’ kids. They’re real smart like Wes was, Wes is a genius. And I know Jonathan and I know his daughter and it’s not like we hang out or anything, I haven’t seen them in years.
There have also been rumblings of a potential TV series finding a home at HBO. One thing’s for sure: now that the franchise rights have reverted back to the Wes Craven estate, there’s a chance to wipe the slate clean and produce a horror reboot worthy of the Elm Street title.
Englund, who is currently on our screens thanks to True Terror, continued:
I just hope that they take the time to look at all the stuff that’s been submitted in the last 10 years or so. And that means locking yourself at home or in a hotel somewhere on the beach, you know, and just sending out for room service and going through it all. Good time for that! I suspect that not only is there some great brand new stuff, but I suspect that there might be a couple of things that are 5, 8, 10 years old that were maybe second choices that should be dusted off and really examined. They may have really great bones and need a little bit of a freshening with the characters.
So even if Robert Englund’s tenure as the Midnight Mangler has come and gone, there’s still a future for the Elm Street franchise. The question, really, is who will pick up those dreaded claws as Freddy and usher in a new era of blood-curdling terror? That’s a dilemma for Wes Craven and Co., and we’ll be keeping a close eye on this story as it develops.