Movies
[R.I.P.] John Saxon, Star of ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ and ‘Black Christmas’ Has Passed Away
It is with a heavy heart that we must tell you that we’ve lost yet another horror legend in John Saxon, who passed away Saturday at the age of 83.
Saxon died of pneumonia in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, his wife, Gloria, told The Hollywood Reporter.
While known for other roles such as starring alongside Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon, Saxon is an important name in the horror genre having not only starred in Bob Clark’s Black Christmas (1974), but also Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984).
Saxon had a major role in the birth of slasher icon Freddy Krueger. He played Nancy Thompson’s father in the first Elm Street and was one of the parents who murdered the child killer after he was freed off a technicality.
He would return to the role in A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) where he would battle Freddy Krueger’s skeleton, and eventually appeared as himself in Craven’s concept-bending New Nightmare (1994).
THR, who also wrote a more detailed obit, notes that Saxon’s 200+ film résumé also included Mario Bava’s Evil Eye (1963), Otto Preminger’s The Cardinal (1963), Blood Beast From Outer Space (1965), The Swiss Conspiracy (1976), Wrong Is Right (1982), Dario Argento’s Tenebrae (1982), Richard Brooks’ Fever Pitch (1985), Beverly Hills Cop III (1994), From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), and God’s Ears (2008).
He will forever be remembered by the horror community as we send our thoughts and prayers to his surviving family and friends.
It’s now been five years since the release of sequel Happy Death Day 2U, Christopher Landon’s sequel to the Groundhog Day-style slasher movie from 2017. Both films star Jessica Rothe as final girl Tree Gelbman, and director Christopher Landon had been planning on bringing the character – and the actor – back for a third installment. So… where is it?!
We’ve been talking about a potential Happy Death Day 3 for several years now, with the ball in producer Jason Blum’s court. Happy Death Day 2U scared up $64 million at the worldwide box office, a far cry from the first film’s $125 million. But with a reported production budget of just $9 million, that first sequel was profitable for Blumhouse. So again… where is it?!
Chatting with Screen Geek this week while promoting her new action-thriller Boy Kills World, franchise star Jessica Rothe provided a hopeful update on Happy Death Day 3.
“Well, I can say Chris Landon has the whole thing figured out,” Rothe explains. “We just need to wait for Blumhouse and Universal to get their ducks in a row.
Rothe continues in her comments to Screen Geek, “But my fingers are so crossed. I think Tree [Gelbman] deserves her third and final chapter to bring that incredible character and franchise to a close or a new beginning.”
Back in 2020, Christopher Landon had revealed that the working title for the third installment was Happy Death Day to Us, said to be “different than the other two films.”
In the meantime, Christopher Landon is directing a mysterious thriller titled Drop for Blumhouse and Platinum Dunes, along with a werewolf movie titled Big Bad for Lionsgate.
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