After Leatherface and Jason, Platinum Dunes Turns to ... Freddy

I'm not inherently against the idea of recasting Freddy, I think those that are, have perhaps given Englund a bit too much credit, he was never exactly an amazing actor but I’ll be the first to admit, something just clicked with Freddy... He was always perfect no matter how flawed the series became. But that is not to say that the character could not have worked if anyone else had played him. I'm sure there are plenty of actors who could have done just as good, if not better then he did and we'd be sitting here defending their right to carry the torch today.

But as things turned out, it IS his role. He built it from the ground up so no matter what happens, anyone else is going to be compared and compared unfavorably to him.

However, I think Heath Ledger taught us a great lesson this year that you don't have to live up to your predecessor. Just go out there and do something new and intense and bring that passion everyday. There are plenty of insanely talented actors that could make this role so much more then it ever was. Personally, I think Ben Foster would kill it. He scared the crap out of me as the stranger in 30 days of Night. He just digs so deep into the roles he takes and finds something primal in himself. But that's just a random suggestion, if they really do have a tight script and are serious about giving this franchise a great new start, I think there is endless potential and any actor willing to put himself out there and really immerse into the character could do what Heath did and just not worry about living up to expectations, just get out there and scare the pants off a few million people by taking it in a new direction that still feels familiar.

On top of that, the concept is brilliant. But not even the most hardcore NOES fan could claim Craven and Co pushed the idea to it's fullest potential. Maybe a lot of remakes are shameless cash grabs, maybe a lot of remakes don't need to be made at all... Sure... But we are not talking about a remake here, but rather a Reboot. And injection of life into a franchise that still has so many places it could go and so many ideas that are sorely missed from Horror today… The level of imagination and creativity in the Elm St. concept has barely been scratched and apart from a large and largely justified group of Hardcores that will never accept a new Freddy no matter how well played, there is a good chance that we could all be very pleasantly surprised with this re-boot.

Or… You know… It could be a great steaming pile of “Why Did You Bother?”


At the end of the day, it looks like it’s going to happen, so if only to see what they do with this gem of a concept, I’m going to give it the benefit of the doubt. I only hope they make a crazy left field casting choice for good old Fred and whoever that unlucky actor might be, I hope he absolutely kills it and proves this sort of thing really is worth while sometimes.

Reply

There was a time that Billy Bob Thornton was rumored to be attached to this project as Freddy. Do we know if this is still true?

Reply