Doctor Sleep Director Says He Has a Pitch for New Nightmare on Elm Street

Earlier this week, a report emerged that the Wes Craven estate was actively hearing pitches on how to revive the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, with Doctor Sleep and The Haunting of Hill House director Mike Flanagan noting that he has some ideas for the series. Given how much time Flanagan has spent in the world of Stephen King, it’s unclear how developed those ideas for the franchise might be or if merely the opportunity to explore the world of Freddy Krueger is something that has gotten him excited. Depending on the directions the Wes Craven estate wants to explore, it’s likely that Flanagan won’t be the only filmmaker throwing their name into the ring to revive the series.

Flanagan took to Twitter to share a link to the news, while adding, “Put me in, coach… I’ve got a pitch!”

The original film was written and directed by Wes Craven and hit theaters in 1984, quickly becoming a major sensation in the genre world. The film starred Robert Englund as Krueger, a figure who was killed by neighborhood parents when it was discovered that he was torturing school children and escaped punishment due to a legal loophole. Krueger returned in the dreams of neighborhood teens, violently attacking them in their sleep, resulting in real-world fatalities. Ultimately it was Heather Langenkamp’s Nancy who was able to bring Krueger out of the dream world and into reality to defeat him.

Englund went on to reprise the role in seven sequels, while Jackie Earle Haley took on the role for the reboot.

Slasher villains dominated not only the horror world throughout the ’80s, but also the entire pop culture zeitgeist, with characters like Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, and Pinhead becoming recognizable icons. With each character earning a number of films throughout the decade, each franchise began to cool off heading into the ’90s and ’00s, with studios instead opting to reboot the narratives.

Last year, the Halloween franchise accomplished the difficult task of delivering a new installment into the series to revive interest from fans, which paved the way for two new sequels on the way. Other series haven’t been as successful, with the Friday the 13th series being tied up in legal troubles in recent years and the Hellraiser franchise being relegated to home video installments.

The recent reports about the Nightmare on Elm Street revival also included details that Craven’s estate could potentially be considering a TV series for the mythology.

Stay tuned for details on the future of the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise.

How would you like to see the series move forward? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!