The Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger remains on hold, a situation that has the entirety of Hollywood holding their breath (and could see David Ellison & co. lose a massive amount of money). Now, according to Puck, the ordeal has a new casualty: Paramount Primal‘s upcoming “A Nightmare On Elm Street” remake.
News of the studio returning to the ’80s horror IP came earlier this month as one of the first centerpieces of Paramount’s new genre shingle, led by J.D. Lifshitz and Raphael Margules. However, the movie going ahead was contingent on the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger finally completing, because Warner Bros. holds the international rights to the film, and Paramount the domestic ones. That not only puts further development of Paramount’s remake on hold, but also adds an intriguing new crinkle of tension to the project.
Why? Well, because not only do Warner Bros.’ Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy have no interest in releasing Paramount’s film overseas, but they also want to do their own “A Nightmare On Elm Street” film. That’s right, two new “A Nightmare On Elm Street” remakes. And on paper, Warner Bros. may be leading the race on which one gets made first, in no small part because De Luca and Abdy have already spoken with “The Mummy” director Lee Cronin to write, direct, and produce. Meanwhile, Paramount doesn’t even have a filmmaker in mind yet for theirs. Add in that Warner Bros. would distribute their film both domestically and internationally, and Paramount only domestically, and the WB “Elm Street” remake has much larger box office potential.
But it’s not as simple as two studios racing to see who gets cameras rolling first. Puck spoke to a source close to Paramount Primal, who said, “The domestic rights deal for the original “A Nightmare on Elm Street” screenplay was negotiated independently and was not based on any expectation beyond the domestic rights themselves.” That comment suggests Paramount may not have intended an international release of their “Elm Street” film in the first place. And Warner Bros. may hit a major snag if they rush to produce their remake before Paramount, since Paramount has Wes Craven‘s estate on their side. Craven’s widow, Iya Labunka, and son, Jonathan Craven, are on board to produce Paramount’s film, along with estate attorney Marc Toberoff. Meanwhile, Warner Bros. approached Craven’s estate, but another source told Puck that the studio didn’t want to do “a very aggressive back-end split with the rights holders.” In other words, how does an “Elm Street” movie without Craven’s influence sound? Not that great, honestly.
Still, a standoff between the two studios remains. “I think we’ve got a bit of a race,” the Paramount Primal source told Puck. “We’re going to do our f*cking damndest to beat them.” But Paramount’s creative vision for their “Elm Street” could be disastrous. The studio envisions a modest budget, just $70 million, that they could only recoup via domestic box office. What’s more, Paramount’s deal with the Craven estate confines their film to a shot-for-shot remake (a Warner source questioned the commercial appeal of that), and there are no merchandising rights involved. A remake like that doesn’t sound very appetizing, especially in this movie climate, whereas Warner Bros. may be able to produce an “Elm Street” film that’s a more original take on Freddy Krueger.
So, which “A Nightmare On Elm Street” movie will get made first? No one knows, but the ongoing legal battle over the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger plays a dynamic part in the race. Hold your breath, Freddy fans.
