We all know the story of Wes Craven’s 1984 horror classic A Nightmare On Elm Street. Terrifying dream demon Freddy Krueger stalks the teenagers of Springwood through their slumber – torturing them to death in gory and disturbing ways before they wake. Without a doubt, Freddy (originally played by Robert Englund) is one of the most legendary villains of modern cinema – with his red and green striped jumper, knifed glove, and burned visage – and he also finds himself on the ever-growing list of horror icons poised for a return.
With Michael Myers and John Kramer (AKA the Jigsaw Killer) bound for the silver screen once more – Halloween in 2018; Jigsaw later this month – Warner Bros. and New Line are plotting a new incarnation of Elm Street, with David Leslie Johnson (The Conjuring 2) on script duties.
Aside from some surprising story trinkets that emerged not too long ago, though, both studios have maintained a radio silence when it comes to the mooted reboot. One thing we can tell you, however, is that Englund will not be involved. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly in a recent interview, he was asked whether or not he’d like a chance to suit up as the iconic character again, and here’s what he said:
“I’m too old to do another Freddy now. If I do a fight scene now it’s got to be real minimal because I can’t snap my head for eight different takes and different angles. My spine gets sore. I can still be mean and scary, but I’m mostly relegated now to sort of Van Helsing roles, old doctors and sh*t.
Continuing on, the actor noted that he had a good run and is happy with his time spent playing Freddy.
“It’s like, I had a good run, I had a good time. And no one plans for this in your career. When I was wearing tights and doing Shakespeare, I didn’t say I wanted to be famous for playing this boogeyman. Careers happen and one of the pieces of advice I give to people is I’m sure you’ll do a great pilot or you’ll do a little independent art movie and it won’t go anywhere and then you might do your Intern No. 3 on Grey’s Anatomy and that’s the one that becomes the huge hit. People just don’t know. And when you’ve survived as long as I have and you see that, you can be real happy that you got 20 years as Freddy Krueger, you know?”
Circling back to the aforementioned reboot, and considering that it’s only been 7 years since Krueger last stalked the silver screen, one can’t help but question whether the time is right for another rendition of the iconic franchise. Plus, the indelible slasher is a character that almost demands a compelling actor, and at this early stage, one of the biggest decisions New Line faces is who to cast as the iconic demon – someone who can hold a candle to Robert Englund’s brilliant and nightmare-inducing turns.
That decision is no doubt a ways off, as it’s still very early days for the Nightmare on Elm Street reboot. But if Englund ends up having a say, we might just see Kevin Bacon in the role.