McNaughton on Nightmare, Henry’s Return

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Henry director John McNaughtonEven if you couldn’t make it out to Fangoria’s Weekend of Horrors last weekend, which I heard was a pretty kickass show all things considered, that doesn’t mean you can’t glean some of the news that came out of it.

Aside from the story we did yesterday about the Friday franchise still being alive, New Line’s other major player, Freddy Krueger, may still have life breathed back into him again soon. Henry director John McNaughton has been attached to the long-discussed Nightmare on Elm Street sequel for a while now but not in any official way as of yet. “Well, [New Line and I] talked about it, and I’m still waiting to hear back from them,” John told the site. “They approached me because of Henry, since they want to make a serious film about Freddy Krueger and his early days as a school janitor. Freddy’s just a living person at that point, and this would seem more like a real story. It wouldn’t be supernatural, and it will recount the days when he used to kidnap young girls—and actually also boys—to rape and murder them.”

Not a lot has been done about it as of yet; indeed McNaughton says the script hasn’t even been worked on yet, but he is adamant that if he does get the gig, it will be written by R. J. Tsarov, who wrote the stage play about Tennessee Williams that McNaughton just directed and is the same screenwriter who penned the possible sequel to Henry that’s been mentioned for a while now as well.

“It’s truly different from the first film, and it’s set in prison,” he explained. “Henry is in jail and this woman starts writing to him, then starts visiting, and ends up falling in love with him. It’s very dark and original, and it’s not a serial-killer movie, as the first one was. I mean, I didn’t want to have Henry roaming the streets and killing more people. Of course, I would like to work with Michael Rooker again; in fact, we talk all the time and we’re still in touch. I want him to read the new Henry screenplay, and if he’s up for it, go and shoot the film.”

Ah, if it only it were that easy. Rooker will be a guest at the upcoming Rock and Shock horror convention in Worcester, MA, where DC will have a very large presence, so we’ll be sure to drill him for any info we can about returning to the role. Stay tuned for that and be sure to click here to learn more about Johnny’s stage play!

Johnny Butane

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