Anna Daniels
Well, first things first: WGTC is not, we repeat, not a reliable source of inside information. Those anonymous sources of theirs are notoriously sketchy, and while the site has on occasion reported information that turned out to be accurate, the vast majority of these reports concerned info that was already known to other media outlets.
As a general rule of thumb, if the site is reporting something that no other outlet appears to have even gotten a whiff of, it’s probably not true. That is the case here — and if we have any doubt as to whether Englund would be psyched to take on the role in a new iteration that can be “expanded across films and television,” well, let’s just defer to the actor’s own words.
At Monster Mania in New Jersey earlier this year, Englund fielded a question from a fan who referred to his guest appearance on The Goldbergs while asking if he’d ever be down to return to the role of Freddy Krueger in a more significant capacity. His response, while interesting, was not super-encouraging.
“We need a Freddy that can do the next eight movies — or seven, I don’t want them to remake Part 1 again,” Englund said. “I’m not Freddy anymore, you guys. I could do one more… probably. If you shot me up with vitamin C. But here’s the thing — I can’t do eight more, you guys. So we need a new actor that you guys believe in and trust and love that can go the distance.”
Englund even had a suggestion as to who that could be. “He’s not a kid anymore either, but the rumor I’ve heard that I like is Kevin Bacon,” he said. “Kevin loves horror. He’s a real actor. He’s a character actor. Kevin was great in Tremors, Kevin was great in Stir of Echoes… We need someone like that to take it on. And re-do it, exploiting all of the new technology.” (via Bloody Disgusting)
Englund is right — Bacon is now in his early 60s, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’d be out of the running if Krueger were to be re-cast. As recently as 2016, when suggested for the role by a fan on Twitter, Bacon responded positively (“I like the way you think,” he said.)
But all of this is mere conjecture, because at this point, we don’t have anything remotely close to official confirmation that new Nightmare movies are actually in the works. It may have once been a can’t-miss property, but that 2010 reboot — starring Jackie Earle Haley, a very good actor, as Freddy — was received about as warmly as Tax Day. Compare and contrast with the warm reception to Halloween, and you’re left with the inescapable conclusion that those beloved horror icons of the ’70s and ’80s won’t get the butts in theater seats all on their own; you need the right story, the right approach, the right filmmaking team. With a property as unique as Nightmare on Elm Street, and a villain as singularly weird as Freddy Krueger, all three of those things are going to be extremely tricky to find.
So, no, we’re probably not going to see Englund return to his signature role. We don’t mean to bum you out, but we have the cure for those blues — go watch Freddy vs. Jason again. That flick just gets more awesome every time we watch it, and we’ve watched it a lot.
Written by: Looper
