Robert Englund Offers Great 'Nightmare on Elm Street' Reboot Idea, Says Who Should Play Freddy Krueger

As horror fans wait for New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. to find a way to revive Freddy Krueger in a new reboot of A Nightmare on Elm Street, one of the most important figures in the franchise has decided to contribute by sharing a great idea. Robert Englund, the actor best known for playing Freddy Krueger in the first seven films of the universe created by Wes Craven, says that if there's a place for Freddy in modern horror, it's in a prequel. Exploring the origins of the killer? You've got our attention.

via: CBM

We haven't seen Freddy Krueger stalk the screen since the much-maligned 2010 remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street starring Watchmen's Jackie Earle Haley, but a recent rumor claimed that there may finally be "some movement" on a reboot of the classic horror franchise.

The U.S. rights to the A Nightmare of Elm Street reverted to the estate of writer-director Wes Craven back in 2019, but New Line retains the international rights. Last we heard, the estate was "taking pitches," but they still need New Line on board or a deal with another domestic distributor to move forward with a new movie.

If and when a new Nightmare on Elm Street film does happen, it's highly unlikely that we'll see OG Freddy Krueger Robert Englund back in the bladed glove and striped jumper - but that doesn't mean he wouldn't be interested in playing the character again in a different medium.

Englund was asked if he'd be open to voicing "The Bastard son of a Thousand Maniacs" in an animated project during an interview with Fangoria.

“Oh, sure. I mean, I’m really busy with voice work anyway. I just did Pinocchio: Unstrung, I’m the evil cricket. I like that idea. When I do the cons and film festivals, I’m confronted with so much great illustration art of Freddy Krueger, conceived in so many ways, whether it’s the storyboards or a great, violent graphic novel, or a comic book, or posters, or even a comedy take on Freddy. I love it.”

In a separate interview with Bloody Disgusting, Englund discussed the possibility of another actor taking over as Freddy, while addressing a rumor that Kevin Bacon may have been eyed to play the sadistic Dream Demon.

“I think, for the sake of the franchise, they need to find someone like a Doug Jones (Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth, The Shape of Water). Years ago, I heard they were considering Kevin Bacon for Freddy Krueger. Kevin’s in a couple of my favorite horror movies; Stir of Echoes I love, and Tremors obviously. I love Kevin as an actor. He’s a true character actor, he just happens to be imprisoned in a leading man’s body, but Kevin is also very physical. I thought that was a great choice, but this was, like, five years ago. I know he’s got all these other projects now and he’s not getting any younger, so he probably wouldn’t be interested.” 

Englund is also excited for fans to experience the new 4K restorations of all seven original films.

“They’ve got so much great post-production technology now. It must have just been really exhilarating for Rachel Talalay and Jack Sholder and Chuck Russell and Renny Harlin and everybody to get to go in there and really clean them up and make stuff look exactly the way they had imagined it when they were shooting it.”

Englund continues, “Everybody’s got a decent-sized flat screen, and you pop these on, and it’s just so rich and wonderful. I’m just happy for everybody that they have an opportunity now to see it the way that those creatives wanted it to be in their mind’s eye.”

Englund cites Wes Craven’s New Nightmare as his favorite installment in the franchise to make, while Freddy vs. Jason is his favorite one to watch.

When asked about his favorite Freddy look, Englund recalls the special effects artists with ease. “I like the makeup for Part 2, Kevin Yeager’s, but I also love the demon makeup in Freddy vs. Jason by Bill Terezakis.”

For his favorite kill, England mentions a classic and a deep cut. “I love Tina on the ceiling in Part 1. That’s a piece of film history in and of itself. But I also like the boy with the hearing aid in Part 6.”

Finally, Englund recites his favorite Freddy line. “Well, it used to be the classic ‘Welcome to prime time, bitch’ [from Dream Warriors], but recently I like, ‘Don’t worry, princess. The first time tends to get a little messy’ [from Freddy vs. Jason] because that’s about as nasty as you can get.”

A Nightmare on Elm Street: 7-Film Collection is now available on 4K UHD.

*****

I agree with Robert that if you can't play the role anymore, reboot the franchise by making a direct sequel to Dream Warriors (whoch, in my opinion is the best sequel in the franchise since the first film. New Nightmare is another ANOES fave). Focus on the characters, use their fears as a springboard to come up with cool nightmare sequences, and cast an unknown as Freddy.