‘A Nightmare On Elm Street’ Reboot Is Still Happening

David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, who penned Warner Bros.' just-released Aquaman, says New Line Cinema is still eyeing a resurrection of its Nightmare on Elm Street franchise.

"It's still happening," Johnson-McGoldrick told GameSpot, before noting "nothing is percolating just yet."

The Warner Bros-owned production branch is instead immediately focused on its Conjuring Universe of films, having just debuted The Nun in September and readying the Johnson-McGoldrick-penned Conjuring 3.

"The Conjuring Universe is sort of first and foremost on [New Line Cinema's] horror burner," said Johnson-McGoldrick, who is attached to the pending Nightmare reboot.

Of the knife-fingered and sweater-sporting serial killer, most famously played by Robert Englund, Johnson-McGoldrick said "everybody wants to see Freddy again," adding the long-running franchise's return is "inevitable at some point."

New Line revived the eight-movie Nightmare series with a 2010 reboot, co-produced with director Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes, which starred Jackie Earle Haley (Watchmen) as the child molester-turned-dream-invading monster.

The Nightmare on Elm Street reboot was mauled by critics but fared better at the box office, scaring up the then horror midnight opening showings record before grossing $115 million at the worldwide box office on a reported $35m budget.

Englund, who briefly stepped back into the role for a 2018 Halloween-centric episode of ABC sitcom The Goldbergs, is "open" to reprising his iconic movie monster on the big screen, according to Goldbergs creator Adam F. Goldberg.

In July, Englund floated his idea for a franchise revival, suggesting multiple actors be recruited to portray the scarred boogeyman, who would take on different appearances to best scare each individual victim:

"If I had an Eli Roth budget I would have cast different actors to play Freddy for every potential victim. Because Freddy is only alive in the imagination of his future victim," Englund said at the 2018 Summer Television Critics Association press tour.

"They would talk about it at a slumber party or in a locker room at school, or on the bus going home. All we know about this Fred Krueger is he wears a hat, wears a red and green striped sweater and has a clawed hand. That's the specifics."

The different Freddys would culminate with the ultimate Freddy Krueger, who would "peel [his face] open and maybe it's yours truly revealed," Englund said.