Overview
- Paramount licensed U.S. theatrical rights from the Wes Craven estate and will develop a new feature based on Craven’s original 1984 screenplay.
- The deal was announced on Monday, July 13, 2026, and names Iya Labunka, Jonathan Craven and attorney-producer Marc Toberoff as producers with J.D. Lifshitz and Raphael Margules executive-producing for the Primal label.
- The project is in priority development with no writer, director, cast or release date attached and studio statements have not confirmed any returning actors, including Robert Englund.
- New Line/Warner retains international rights and the estate regained the original screenplay in 2019 through U.S. copyright termination provisions that let creators reclaim grants after 35 years.
- Paramount Primal is intended to deliver smartly budgeted genre films and this Elm Street acquisition gives the label a marquee franchise that could shape its early slate and the studio’s strategy for reviving legacy horror.