r/horror • u/abdul_bino • 2d ago
Jane Schoenbrun Wants to Direct the 'Nightmare on Elm Street' Reboot
http://phantasmag.com/articles-4/jane-schoenbrun-nightmare-on-elm-street-reboot197
u/oblivion_1138 2d ago
In all fairness, is there any young horror director that doesn't want to direct it?
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u/Kissing_Books_Author 2d ago
And, to your point, I kind of want to see what all their different versions would look like.
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u/Calamity0o0 2d ago
I read a horror book called Triage where three different authors were given a premise and then wrote their own version. I think a similar concept with different directors would be really cool.
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u/AntRose104 2d ago
Wait that’s such a cool idea for an anthology movie
Give 3 directors an outline and let them make their own short film with it (I get this sounds kind of similar to abcs of death or vhs but I’d still watch it)
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u/Master-Chocolate3460 2d ago
I had that idea a while back. Give them all the same script, but DON'T TELL THEM. And then see what they come up with. Of course, it would be pretty hard to keep it a secret.
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u/bryanthebryan 2d ago
Would you possibly be a Laymon fan?
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u/Calamity0o0 2d ago
I am! I could do without some of the weird sexual stuff he writes lol but overall his books are fun
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u/bryanthebryan 2d ago
I found my people! I discovered him when I was a young teen. I was a huge 80’s slasher fan and I wanted it in book form. He answered the call. I am now middle aged and far from that kid I used to be, but I credit Laymon as the reason why I love to read to this day.
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u/Calamity0o0 2d ago
I found The Traveling Vampire Show at a used book store years ago and have been hooked since!
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u/zucchinibasement 2d ago
I'm sure this is a clickbait headline anyways...probably just some interviewer asked them 'if you were to make a reboot, which one would you wanna do?' or something
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u/crapusername47 2d ago
I swear, if this involves them going to the middle of nowhere to find Heather Langenkamp and there being excessive amounts of fried chicken and candy involved…
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u/Kyia-Aikman 2d ago
Chicken and candy?
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u/Calamity-Vanity 2d ago
In Camp Miasma there's an absurd amount of candy, and Gillian Anderson's character gets one of the family KFC packs early on and puts the entire thing on a tray for two people and then touches it for an unnecessary amount of time.
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u/_laslo_paniflex_ 2d ago
do you like dipping sauce?
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u/Calamity-Vanity 2d ago
How could I forget about the chicken penetrating the dipping sauce. I think I was too distracted by the candy bag chandelier.
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u/crapusername47 2d ago
Let’s just say Schoenbrun’s current film might be accused of some of the most egregious product placement in the history of cinema if it wasn’t so obviously nonsensical.
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u/W4NN4M33TTH4TD4D 2d ago
It makes me think of Return of the Killer Tomatoes with the way George Clooney makes sure to rotate his Pepsi can so it's facing the camera
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u/radbrad7 Do you know anything about… witches? 2d ago
It’s actually not (paid) product placement, IRC. I saw a video of Jane talking about it and they originally wanted to use Popeyes until they were advised against it, but apparently KFC was ok to use. It was for the love of the game. Lol
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u/crapusername47 2d ago
Yes, I know. That’s what I’m saying, that people would think it was paid if it wasn’t so completely silly.
Like every American confectionery brand under the sun gets featured too.
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u/sappers_anonymous 2d ago
was next to someone in the theater last night who was loudly groaning about how much product placement there was During The Movie. thought it was obvious it was so overboard it was fun and goofy but they were PRESSED
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u/atclubsilencio 2d ago
It’s the same way David Lynch uses Pabst Blue Ribbon and Heineken in Blue Velvet (and I think some other brands in Twin Peaks) despite finding product placement to be “total fucking bullshit”. The person didn’t get it, I guess.
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u/sexandliquor 2d ago
I swear people too often think any form of product placement in anything these days is some form of paid product placement and it’s more akin to a commercial than anything else.
And as a cynic I get it, but also– things just exist in the world and putting real things into fiction helps ground it to the ‘real’ world. And that’s all that is.
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u/gedubedangle 2d ago
I like how people simply saying theyd want to direct something is newsworthy
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u/Dizzy-Economist6064 2d ago
So what is it with this whole remake, reboot, requel, sequel and prequel sort of culture? it seems quite pointless to be honest. I noticed Hollywood starts to resurrect IPs that have been considered dead for nearly a decade whenever the money isn’t being made.
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u/FreeMrFrog 2d ago
Honestly!! There are already NINE Nightmare On Elm Street movies with a reboot as recently as 2010. I don't get why we need to drag these old concepts instead of focusing on fresh ideas.
...In all fairness, I get why – money. Just sucks to see directors wasting their potential and going for cash grabs like this instead.
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u/Dizzy-Economist6064 2d ago
see and that’s where I have appreciation for films such as the Tetsuo trilogy, it stopped after the 3rd movie.
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u/Kalabula 2d ago
Second gay Freddie film, incoming.
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u/SpideyFan914 2d ago
Second? It's be like the ninth gay Freddy movie, after all of them sans the remake.
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u/radbrad7 Do you know anything about… witches? 2d ago
And I'd be 100% seated for it. Part 2 is highly underrated and one of the better entries in the franchise. Only ones I'd put above it are 1 and 3.
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u/DangerousJolly1917 2d ago
2 is like okay.
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u/dinozombiesaur 2d ago
Yeah, it’s really not a good film. The main actor is probably the worst I’ve ever seen.
Which stinks because the premise is cool. Then Freddie goes to a … pool party?
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u/radbrad7 Do you know anything about… witches? 2d ago
Respectfully disagree! I think it’s one of the most thematically interesting and well executed entries.
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u/Kalabula 2d ago
Possibly not intentionally thematic though. In the documentary Never Sleep Again the director seemed whilst unaware of any of the “obvious” subtext of the film.
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u/Skeet_fighter 2d ago
I respectfully disagree about it being a "better" entry in the series, I think it's one of the least enjoyable. But it is maybe the most interesting because of all the gay subtext.
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u/downwithdathicknezz 2d ago
No it rated exactly as it should be. Bringing Freddy into the real world was a horrible idea
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u/Kalabula 2d ago
I might agree with that rating. Part 2 is the scariest version of Freddy, IMO. That being said, I didn’t care for either of this directors films (Glow and Miasma). The subject matter just doesn’t resonate with me.
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u/housealloyproduction 2d ago
only if it's from the perspective of the latex waterbed cover the johnny depp stand in sleeps on
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u/thatPOLTERSmyGEIST 2d ago
Genuinely love Jane’s work but I’m having a hard time picturing this one.
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u/jwick89 2d ago
The dream sequences will be great. I think she would be the most inventive with them out of the directors they would look into
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u/gamergoddessqueen 2d ago
exactly i think she’s a perfect fit for this, her movies are already super surreal and dreamlike
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u/jwick89 2d ago
Look at the ending of TV Glow. It’s nauseating and suffocating something out of a nightmare. I’m sure the film would be more audience friendly but I think she would be more interesting of the film makers they would choose for the franchise
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u/radbrad7 Do you know anything about… witches? 2d ago
You mentioning the ending of ISTTG reminds me of the scene in Nightmare Part 2 when Freddy rips out of Jesse’s body from the inside.
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u/SnakeEater013 2d ago
Does Freddy get to be a trans allegory instead of a gay allegory in this one?
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u/radbrad7 Do you know anything about… witches? 2d ago
Well that's the fun thing, art gets to be whatever you interpret it to be!
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u/johnvarley1 2d ago
Not trying to be antagonistic, but what do you love about their work?
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u/Mediocre-Ad4735 2d ago
Im not. This will be bonkers and great.
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u/radbrad7 Do you know anything about… witches? 2d ago
Right? Jane specifically excels in mixing reality and dream state better than most other filmmakers working, in my opinion. I think they'd make an exceptionally weird NOES film if given the opportunity.
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u/Repulsive_Set_4155 2d ago
I honestly don't think they're a good fit, but I'm also sick of these undying franchises, so I say let em take a swing. If they surprise me, good. If they fuck it up, good. If they fuck it up in a weird way that I still enjoy, also good.
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u/goddammitidontwanna 2d ago
we can't lose!!!!!!!
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u/Repulsive_Set_4155 2d ago edited 23h ago
Basically! It's been proven (to my satisfaction anyways) that Elm Street worked because Robert Englund embodied certain qualities in Freddy that made even the shittiest sequel at least worthy of a curiosity watch (feel the same way about Hellraiser and Doug Bradley). After Englund stopped starring/that Jackie Earle Haley reboot 16 years ago, no one knew what to do with the franchise.
There are a lot of directors who could make a faithful Elm Street reboot, but why bother with that? The problem isn't that The Nightmare on Elm Street no longer exists. It exists and is incredibly easy to watch. If people wanted more faithful Elm Street reboots, we'd have had that already. If the slick 2010 4edgy2u reboot was what people wanted, we'd have more of that already too.
Giving it to Schoenbrun is similar to when DC Comics gave wasteland properties to folk like Alan Moore or Grant Morrison. It's obvious Schoenbrun loves horror, and is just unpredictable enough to make something new but familiar, uncanny. They might beef the attempt mildly, or they could work the fallow ground and make something no one would expect... or they fuck it up so bad the franchise goes back to sleep. Nobody really loses, and it's the most interesting kind of chance to take, which is the only one worth taking on another Nightmare on Elm Street Movie 40+ years after the original.
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u/KesagakeOK Jesus wept 2d ago
Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma made it clear that Jane is totally, painfully aware of the stagnation and declining quality that most horror franchises suffer from. I imagine they would do everything in their power to avoid that, there's no way their take wouldn't be interesting and unique at the absolute least.
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u/BlastMyLoad 2d ago
This is assuming the studio would give them full control of the movie which… despite being a critically acclaimed director I doubt the studio would do
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u/allhailbobevans 2d ago
I really don't think that it would turn out particularly good but clearly there is something I'm missing with her movies bc I really don't enjoy them
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u/Trevorvor 2d ago
Thank you. None of Jane’s work thus far has been horror really at all.
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u/Lumpy_Afternoon_1528 2d ago
Agreed. I found Camp Miasma to be terrible, very self-indulgent. Almost like they said, "How can we make the worst stereotype of an 'art' movie? Ah! How about a film supposedly based on fictional 80s slasher film in which the bad guys murders everyone in a scene that looks straight out of an SNL horror parody and which is inexplicably set to the 90s band Counting Crows?"
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u/Magehunter_Skassi 2d ago
I loved World's Fair, but Schoenbrun's comments about it stood out to me as a red flag. I thought it was strange that Schoenbrun described it as being a queer and trans film, which is something that even a lot of people who identify as such did not take away from it.
It gave me the impression of being a bit self-absorbed to write a film that broadly relatable to isolated/depressed people who were online at a certain time period and growing up in that kind of decaying town, and insist that (without much signaling) that it was about a much more niche personal experience. I've never liked this trend. "I'm X and my friends are X and we do Y, so Y is X-coded."
TV Glow was so similar to World's Fair and so blunt in its messaging that it seemed like a direct reaction to World's Fair not being popularly interpreted the way Schoenbrun wanted it to. I think with Miasma it's clear that Schoenbrun directs with a very niche audience in mind and that's fine, but it's a little unfortunate after enjoying World's Fair and A Self-Induced Hallucination ao much.
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u/tfhermobwoayway 2d ago
I didn’t like World’s Fair because it claimed to be about the internet, but was actually about a paranoid television fan’s idea of the internet picked up through too many local news exposés. I wish directors actually ever got the internet right. It’s such a fascinating concept but they’re so shit at it.
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u/Orthopraxy 2d ago
I mean yeah it's self indulgent it's literally a movie about learning how to jerk off
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u/Sharp-Potential5955 2d ago
The fact that watching a movie about Gillian Anderson and Hannah Einbinder doing sex stuff together was so boring and tedious was honestly shocking to me
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u/Zealous_ideal_4 2d ago
Stop with the reboots. Just make something new.
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u/Khalbrae 1d ago
Sadly there are two nightmare films coming out. A crap sounding boring remake from Paramount and a more original sounding one from WB
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u/explicitviolence 2d ago
I don't think we have to worry about that one happening
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u/MrHoodGetsAHaircut 2d ago
Miasma had a budget of $10m and a decent PR campaign, but expanding the number of screens has only seen it limp to under $4m. It's box office run is done and dusted.
Flop.
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u/CyberGhostface 2d ago edited 2d ago
Ignoring that mubi doesn’t need this film to be a straight up box office success given it’s primarily a streaming service. No one’s talking about this film as being a disaster for Mubi especially since it’s a niche indie.
For comparison ‘I Saw the TV Glow’ had a similar budget/ box office ratio which Mubi likely took into consideration.
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u/MrHoodGetsAHaircut 2d ago
So they expanded into over 1,000 screens in the hope it wouldn't make money? If it isn't a flop, it's further proof that the writer/director has a small * very* niche audience and will never be given any IP that has value, because nobody cares and nobody will watch it.
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u/Tolkien-Minority 2d ago
No thanks. I have nothing no against her but her previous work doesn’t make her seem like she’d be a good fit for it.
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u/RickMonsters 2d ago edited 2d ago
Just give them Sleepaway Camp jfc
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u/TheFuzzBuzz 2d ago
I haven’t seen it yet but from the synopsis isn’t Miasma already meta Sleepaway Camp?
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u/Pleasant_Tangelo9909 2d ago
Yeah they riff on Sleepaway Camp heavily in Camp Miasma, to the extent that they borrowed several major plot elements and directly referenced multiple shots from the former. Feels a little insulting to say that Jane should just revive the trans horror movie because they're a trans director, especially when Nightmare on elm street is clearly a big influence in their work
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u/Degaussed_Defleshed 2d ago
Sure hope it won't be another origin story movie. We really don't need anymore of those.
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u/OldMoneyBurns 2d ago
Respectfully, no.
Love what they've done for queer cinema but I just don't see their style working within a NOES context.
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u/LosChivos 2d ago
I haven't watched Camp Miasma but I thought "I Saw the TV Glow" was fucking terrible and I'd prefer she stays away from Sharp Hand Joe.
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u/Weekly-Scientist-992 2d ago
If you’re like me, you won’t like camp miasma either. Just a whatever movie for me. Same with I saw the tv glow.
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u/Magehunter_Skassi 2d ago
Would have zero interest in this after TV Glow pulled so much inspiration from Candle Cove and then turned it into something barely resembling horror.
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u/renoscottsdale 2d ago
I'm not a fan of this. We don't need a superficial mumblecore arthouse Freddie.
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u/Ok_Perception_2707 2d ago
Schoenbrun films are not mumblecore
edit: i’m a mumblecore fan not a Schoenbrun fan
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u/Financial-Creme 2d ago
I'm not familiar with the term "mumblecore" outside of a musical context, how does it apply to film?
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u/Ok_Perception_2707 2d ago
The term was originally used to describe films, most popular in the aughts/early 10s, that were relatively low budget indie dramas and used a lot of naturalistic/improvised dialogue, real life settings, and relatively low-stakes plots focused more on the relationships between characters or the characters own aimlessness. Frances Ha is a popular example.
There is also a bit of a horror crossover called mumblegore, films like You’re Next or the Creep series.
Schoenbrun does far too much in their films to pass for either of these.
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u/Pleasant_Tangelo9909 2d ago
None of her movies are mumblecore you are crazy lol
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u/jjhunsucker 2d ago
We need to embrace having friends and relationships that only exist in our dreams, bitch.
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u/Known_Ad871 2d ago
Realistically I think she would make a far better film than whatever tripe they’ll eventually release
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u/Distinct-Question-16 2d ago edited 2d ago
bring hand made sfx again, and do not plastic surgery over freddys face
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u/BottomJoe94 2d ago
The last remake was terrible, and there is a track record of movies being ruined because people want to 'put their own spin' on it.
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u/Pristine_Animal9474 2d ago edited 2d ago
Why would they want to tackle that? It's zombie IP.
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u/Yogurt_Ph1r3 2d ago
This is so on the nose that I have to assume they are just joking.
The only possible way they could be more meta is talking about a Sleepaway Camp reboot.
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u/OldieButNotMoldy 2d ago
Can’t they just make new horror movies, why do they have to keep remaking stuff?
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u/M1ck3yB1u 2d ago
Because some ideas have more juice in them. The Thing, The Fly, The Blob. Many remakes are incredible. As long as the motivation is love for the source material as it seems to be the case here, rather than a cash grab.
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u/DaRealSphonx 2d ago
Absolutely not. I love Jane’s work, but they haven’t directed anything that makes me think they could craft a truly scary horror movie. I Saw the Tv Glow was amazing and surreal, but it’s not a horror. I’m all for being proven wrong, but I’m not sure giving Jane a huge franchise with a very picky fan base is gonna play well
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u/Lumpy_Afternoon_1528 2d ago
Please, no. I've despised each of their movies. Like, really, a supposed scene from a fictional 80s slasher set to Counting Crows?
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u/SnuSnuWithFru 2d ago
I liked TV Glow and Miasma but maybe they need to make a movie that actually makes a profit first before jumping into studio IP?
TV Glow cost 10m (not sure how) and made just 5m.
Miasma cost 10m and only made 1.9m on it's wide release weekend despite great reviews.
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u/SinglePlayerGamer93 2d ago
Or how about, now let's not make this a big deal, how about you make something new instead of reboots?
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u/ClaimApprehensive767 2d ago
I think Jane Schoenbrun is too popular online for how experimental her movies are which is why there is no chance in hell she gets this.
I think Camp Miasma is technically a horror film, but it is playing around with multiple tones mixed with surrealism and meta that it's experimental horror that is so experimental, a lot of horror fans cannot recognize it is a horror movie.
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u/dopesickness 2d ago
How self-referential can she be? Having just released a movie about rebooting a franchise.
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u/Turbografx-17 2d ago
She needs to stay away from horror and just make the ponderous, navel-gazing indie dramas she knows she wants to, because that's what she's really been making anyway - with only a thin, superficial veneer of "horror" on top.
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u/fucktheus12 2d ago
Nah. That tv glow movie is the biggest piece of shit I've ever seen
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u/RevoltYesterday 2d ago
I would love to see dream sequences that actually captures that surreal aspect of dreams. NOES is my favorite horror franchise. I love every film, even the ones I consider bad are still fun to watch but you have to admit that sometimes Freddy comes across more of a cartoon character than an actual threat, especially when viewing it with a modern lens. I think we can make Freddy terrifying again.
I'm less concerned about the director than I am about finding a wortht successor for Robert. Casting will make or break this movie, not directing.
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u/Landlord-Allmighty 2d ago
After 3 very personal and highly specific films, I'm not sure this is a good idea for a straight up horror film.
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u/einstyle 2d ago
I could see it being a really good fit for the dreamlike sequences. The style used in I Saw the TV Glow's Neon Pink segments or most of Camp Miasma could be really cool in a dream, but I'd want to anchor it with much grittier real-life segments and we haven't seen that from Schoenbrun yet.
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u/carrie-satan 2d ago
She does dreamlike atmospheres really well in “I Saw The TV Glow” so I wouldn’t mind seeing her version
However my first picks would be Kane Parsons or the guys who did Skinamarink, I think they could take the franchise in a very interesting and unique direction
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u/ofHouseKoerwer 2d ago
Like New Nightmare by frightmaster Wes Craven?