A24's Obsession director wants to make a new Nightmare on Elm Street movie next

'I would love to take a crack at that'

Obsession director Curry Barker already has his next big project lined up. The rising horror filmmaker is rebooting the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise for A24, promising a fresh spin on the long-running slasher series with an emphasis on the cannibal family at the heart of the story. But what comes next?

In an interview with Polygon focused on his terrifying new movie Obsession (more on that in another story soon), Barker teased one other iconic horror franchise he wouldn't be taking on.

"Obviously, everybody wants to do Nightmare on Elm Street," Barker tells me over Zoom. "It's kind of like the hot thing right now. I don't even know who has the rights to that or what — I hear that the rights are pretty locked tight for that movie, but man, what a concept that has endless potential of nightmares and how trippy and weird and creepy they could get. I would love to take a crack at that."

There hasn't been a new Elm Street movie since the 2010 reboot, which got eviscerated by critics but made a killing at the box office. Five years later, Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema tried to relaunch the Freddy Krueger franchise yet again, but the project never made it out of development. Then, in 2019, the rights to Elm Street reverted to the estate of original creator Wes Craven.

While there's been some discussion of a revival in the years since, nothing official has materialized — but that hasn't stopped other directors from eyeing the property.

"I know Lee Cronin also just publicly said that he wanted to take a crack at it too," Barker notes. "So I don't know, but since you asked, that's one that I would be excited about — probably a couple more, too."

Then again, after dipping into the IP waters with Texas Chainsaw, Barker says he may not want to jump straight into another storied franchise right away, either.

"I'm also really excited about keeping it original," he says.

---

Obsession releases in theaters on May 15.