Freddy Krueger, the fingers-tipped-with-razors, sweater-wearing, nasty-complexioned psycho killer from Wes Craven’s fright-fest franchise, A Nightmare on Elm Street, is returning in a new series of films, courtesy of New Line Cinema. In the new films, the classic movie monster will be played by Jackie Earle Hayley, who powerfully portrayed Rorschach, super-powered vigilante of Zack Snyder’s Watchmen (2009).
In the original film from 1984, Krueger stalked and killed teenagers in their dreams, killing them in the real world. Krueger has appeared in six Nightmare sequels and in Freddy vs. Jason, the 1993 crossover film with Jason Voorhees, the villain of the Friday the 13th franchise. According to Box Office Mojo, the Nightmare franchise is the third-highest grossing horror franchise in film history, with a lifetime gross of $307,420,075.
Samuel Bayer is directing from a script by Wesley Strick. Shooting is expected to begin in Chicago in May.