Movies
Robert Englund Talks ‘Wishmaster’; Franchise “Deserved More Respect”
It’s often said that the 1990s weren’t the horror genre’s best years; that may be true, but let’s not ignore the fact that countless gems were released between 1990 and 1999. One of those gems was Robert Kurtzman’s Wishmaster, which introduced the world to a brand new horror icon in 1997. Full of awesome practical effects and featuring an incredible performance from Andrew Divoff that helped make a pretty good case for the evil Djinn being ranked alongside Freddy, Jason and all the greats, the loaded-with-cameos Wishmaster is a whole lot of fun to watch.
As I write this post, Lionsgate is gearing up to release the 4-film Wishmaster Collection on Blu-ray on March 28th. In other words, it’s the perfect time to talk Wishmaster, and Robert Englund did just that at the recent Emerald City Comic Con. He took part in an hour-long panel where he answered various questions from fans, and the conversation at one point turned to the ’97 film.
In addition to telling a fun behind-the-scenes story about his experience on set, Englund also took a moment to heap some much-deserve praise on Wishmaster. He told the con crowd:
I knew that we were on to something original. I think the Wishmaster movies deserved a little more respect. It’s a great hook, and Andrew Divoff is terrific in those films. I thought it was just a great great hook… a great gimmick for a franchise. That unfortunately didn’t go far enough, I think. I think there was probably at least one more to be made. Would’ve been really interesting.
Englund of course played Raymond Beaumont in the first Wishmaster film, which I call the original “Expendables of horror.” Nice to see him giving it some love, after all these years.
Check out the full chat below. The Wishmaster talk begins at 31:32.
It’s been sixteen years since Freddy Krueger was last seen in the Nightmare on Elm Street reboot movie starring Jackie Earle Haley, with complicated rights issues playing a role in the franchise’s complete and total silence over the past several years. Today, that silence ends.
According to a new report from The Hollywood Reporter this afternoon, “Paramount Pictures has closed a deal for the U.S. rights to the original screenplay of A Nightmare on Elm Street.”
Paramount’s genre label Paramount Primal is behind the upcoming franchise reboot.
THR explains in further detail, “The U.S. rights are being licensed from the Craven estate, which includes Craven’s widow Iya Labunka and Craven’s son Jonathan Craven. The duo will produce the new iteration with Marc Toberoff, the attorney-turned-producer who specializes in copyright law. J.D. Lifshitz and Raphael Margules will executive produce for Paramount Primal.”
“We look forward to bringing the world of Wes Craven’s Nightmare on Elm Street to a new and completely engaged generation of fans,” Iya Labunka said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. “We know that Wes would have been thrilled to see how horror is taking its long overdue place in the cultural canon. We can’t wait for all of us to sit together in a dark theatre – around the campfire of today – as the next chapter of the Nightmare story unfolds.”
“We can’t remember a time before we were fans of Wes Craven,” said Lifshitz and Margules. “The fact that Iya and Jonathan have entrusted us with this opportunity to help usher a new story into this world is an honor beyond words. We look forward to working alongside them to bring a terrifying new nightmare to audiences everywhere, and to welcome Freddy home.”
The Elm Street franchise had of course previously had a home at New Line Cinema/Warner Bros., but the Craven Estate was able to regain the rights to the original screenplay. THR notes, “New Line retains the international rights to Nightmare on Elm Street.”
Freddy Krueger’s upcoming return is said to be “set in the world of A Nightmare on Elm Street, based on the original screenplay.” No further details are available at this time.
Will Robert Englund be returning one more time? Stay tuned for updates.
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