14 DAY TRIAL // Remakes or reboots are such a common occurrence in Hollywood these days, that one rarely makes the headlines anymore. However, things stand a bit differently with the original slasher / horror film, as it’s often called, “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” as talk of a reboot has not yet ceased to tire fans. From what Platinum Dunes guys are telling Chud, the reboot will happen – granted they find a way to make Freddy “adjust” to modern life.
Rumor of a remake of the classic 1984 film have been around for years and, so far, nothing much has come of them. The guys over at Chud got to speak to Brad Fuller and Andrew Form from Platinum Dunes, who undertook this massive challenge of remaking the film. What they have found out is that, at the moment, the issue is whether they can make the killer in such a way as to frighten kids these days, as he used to back in his glory days. If they accomplish this feat, then Freddy will live again on the big screen, they say.
“If there were a child killer in 2009, it would be on the internet and everyone would know about it,” Fuller says. “The concept of the original ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ wouldn’t work. The concept of the movie is the kids discovering what happened, and the kids paying the price for their parents’ sins. What we’re struggling with is how do we have his crimes in a way where the kids can’t just type in ‘Freddy Krueger’ [into Google] and come up with his arrest record.” he comments about the challenges that lay ahead of them.
In all fairness, Krueger was doubly more dangerous since his victims did not know his identity or, as a matter of fact, why he was set to kill them all. If this is a reboot, and not just a simple remake, such a situation would be impossible to render onscreen, as Fuller also notes. But there are other obstacles as well, as Form explains. “We need to find a visual director who can blow people away. And seamless transitions are the key, where the audience truly has no idea if it’s a dream or not until it’s too late you realize you’ve been duped for the last 30, 40, 90 seconds and the person’s been dreaming the whole time.” he underlines.
However, if these issues are solved, then there are some things fans can count on. For instance, one of them is that Freddy will still be as cold-hearted as in the original film. He will also get to keep his glove and sweater that have made him such an iconic character, the guys at Platinum Dunes also reveal. In the meanwhile, stay tuned here for more details on this.