Freddy Krueger is ready for another close up.
Paramount has closed a deal for the U.S. rights to adapt the original screenplay for “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” under its new genre label Paramount Primal. The The U.S. rights are being licensed from the Wes Craven estate, which includes Craven’s widow Iya Labunka and Craven’s son Jonathan Craven. The duo will produce the film with Marc Toberoff, an attorney who helped the filmmaker’s family get the rights back to the kickoff film.
The yet untitled film is priority development under Paramount Primal; plot details have yet to be revealed, but it will be set in the world of “A Nightmare on Elm Street” and based on the first 1984 film. That means more of Kruger, the iconic child killer with the burned face and metal claws.
Paramount’s new genre label is being led by J.D. Lifshitz and Raphael Margules, the producing team behind “Weapons,” “Barbarian,” “Companion” and “Friendship.”
“Jonathan and I are so excited to be partnering with J.D. and Rafi along with the terrific team they’ve assembled at Paramount Primal,” said Iya Labunka in a statement. “We look forward to bringing the world of Wes Craven’s ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ to a new and completely engaged generation of fans. We know that Wes would have been thrilled to see how horror is taking its long overdue place in the cultural canon. We can’t wait for all of us to sit together in a dark theatre – around the campfire of today – as the next chapter of the Nightmare story unfolds.”
Paramount Pictures also revealed that its previously announced label will be known as Paramount Primal. The label will partner with next-generation storytellers and established filmmakers to produce smartly budgeted films across a variety of genres, including horror, comedy, action, and grounded science fiction.
Lifshitz and Margules will executive produce for Paramount Primal. WME, Industry Entertainment and Ziffren Brittenham LLP represent the Wes Craven estate.
Kruger has appeared in nine films, TV series and video games. He was last seen slicing and dicing on screen in 2010’s reboot, “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” which grossed more than $117 million on a $35 million budget. New Line previously released the “Elm Street” movies and retains international rights to the series. Paramount is in the process of buying New Line’s parent company Warner Bros. Discovery.
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