Biography Flash: Freddy Krueger's Tangled Rights, Blumhouse Stalks, and an HBO Comeback

Freddy Krueger Biography Flash a weekly Biography.

Freddy Krueger. Burned, bladed, baby-faced boogeyman of your nightmares, and — turns out — a newsmaker even from deep in cinematic limbo. So what’s our stripey-sweatered, fedora-sporting villain been up to in the last few days? Is he terrorizing teenagers? Clawing his way through legal rights hell? Or just waiting for someone, anyone, to finally wake him up with a decent reboot? Let’s find out.

Biographically speaking, the most headline-worthy rumble this week comes not from Springwood but from Hollywood. Jason Blum — that’s the Blumhouse guy, horror’s answer to the Monopoly Man if he only bought haunted houses — told Variety recently he’s basically on a daily stalker schedule with the Freddy and Jason rights-holders. Blum calls it “the white whale” of horror, which is funny, because nothing about these movies is remotely subtle, except maybe the box office strategy. Here’s the issue: Freddy and Jason are languishing because their legal rights are more tangled than fresh spaghetti. But Blumhouse feels poised to revive Freddy, assuming the actual copyright holders ever stop chasing their own tail and let him at it. His persistence would be comic if it wasn’t also the best shot at seeing Freddy back on the big screen in my lifetime. Maybe yours, too.

Now, speaking of legends who won’t die, Robert Englund, the only Freddy who counts if you don’t count Jackie Earle Haley (which, let’s face it, few do), just weighed in on who should next don the dream demon’s glove. Englund dropped Kevin Bacon’s name — but also admitted time may have passed just as swiftly as Freddy in a boiler room. Englund thinks a total unknown might be better. His pitch: “Maybe someone lumbering and tall. Or cat-like and weird. Just pick someone who’ll go the distance.” Notice how he didn’t suggest someone with impeccable skin.

Meanwhile, on the streaming front, Freddy vs. Jason is suddenly the comeback kid. According to HBO’s trending charts, a new generation is binge-watching two guys in Halloween Spirit costumes pummel each other, and apparently, we’re all better for it. This movie’s having its cult-classic renaissance, and social media’s arguing again about who’s the bigger baddie. I’d settle it, but frankly, my money’s on contract lawyers.

There’s also fun at the edges of pop culture — from drag artists threatening to break out the Freddy claws for Halloween, to horror forums speculating that “The Black Phone 2” villain is basically a Krueger redux. Freddy’s influence: still everywhere, even if he’s not technically anywhere new.

Thanks for surviving another “Freddy Krueger Biography Flash” with me, Marcus Ellery. If you don’t want to miss the next time Freddy blips back into the world — or just want more biographies, wild and weird, fictional or real — subscribe now and search “Biography Flash.” Stay awake, folks.

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This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI