Paramount Secures U.S. Rights to Elm Street Screenplay for Primal-Branded Reboot

Paramount has acquired the U.S. rights to the original 1984 A Nightmare on Elm Street screenplay from the Craven estate, with New Line retaining international rights; no writer is attached yet. The deal, which is unrelated to the Warner Bros. Discovery merger, leverages copyright law allowing authors to regain rights after 35 years. Produced by the Craven estate’s Labunka and Marc Toberoff, with Lifshitz and Margules as executive producers, the project will launch under Paramount’s new genre label, Paramount Primal, as a reboot of Freddy Krueger. The Elm Street franchise comprises eight films that have grossed over $438 million worldwide, highlighting a strong potential for a budget-conscious horror reboot.