Composite of images from A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) and The Number 23 (2007). Both via Everett Collection.
Quick Cuts:
- Dream Warriors director Chuck Russell says he’d love to return to the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise.
- Russell believes Robert Englund is still the definitive Freddy Krueger.
- He also thinks Jim Carrey could play Freddy, if the project took a bold new creative direction.
- The comments came from Josh Korngut’s Development Hell podcast, part of Dread Central’s new Elm Street Revisited miniseries.
Few horror sequels are as beloved as A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. Often hailed as the crown jewel of the series, the 1987 installment introduced deeply relatable new characters while elevating Freddy Krueger into full pop-culture icon status.
Directed by then first-timer Chuck Russell, Dream Warriors balanced heartfelt storytelling with imaginative terror, forever shaping the tone of the franchise. Decades later, Russell still looks back fondly — and just recently, he told Dread Central’s Development Hell podcast that he’s very open to revisiting Elm Street again.
“I’d love to do another Elm Street if there was the full support of everybody,” Russell told host Josh Korngut. “Patricia Arquette has said she’d like to do it again in the press. Very interesting, because she didn’t talk about it a lot earlier in her career. She was so terrific and went on to have such a great career — I think that’s a good idea too. I still think Robert, for me, is the only Freddy. Were I to be involved in a new Elm Street, A, I’d be delighted, and B, my first goal would be to get Robert involved.“
We absolutely agree that Academy Award-winner Patricia Arquette returning would make for an unstoppable legacy sequel. And that Robert’s return in some capacity is strictly mandatory. But, still… what about…
Jim Carrey as Freddy Krueger?
During the interview, Korngut — noting Russell’s past collaboration directing Jim Carrey in The Mask — floated the idea that Carrey might have the range and physicality to don Freddy’s glove.
To our surprise, Russell didn’t dismiss Korngut’s notion at all:
“Yeah, that would be great. Jim, in my opinion, could almost do anything if he put his heart into it,” Russell said. “For Jim to do it, we’d have to do something that was another leap in the Elm Street series — a little bit like what Wes did with his very meta New Nightmare. I think Jim would only consider it, and I’d only consider harnessing Jim, if there was a bold new direction for Elm Street.“
What’s Next for Elm Street?
While no Elm Street revival has been confirmed, Russell’s enthusiasm — coupled with Arquette’s apparent openness — suggests that the franchise’s dream door isn’t fully closed. Whether Freddy’s glove returns to Robert Englund, Jim Carrey, or someone else entirely, it’s clear that Russell still dreams of another nightmare.
The rights to franchise are reportedly guarded by Wes Craven’s estate, and we trust they’d only unleash Freddy Krueger under the best possible circumstances. While we’re thirsty for more Elm Street, we trust Craven’s family to ensure his creative legacy is now being treated with the utmost respect.
Elm Street Revisited
To hear the full conversation with Chuck Russell — including his thoughts on returning to A Nightmare on Elm Street, working with Robert Englund, and why Jim Carrey could make a surprising Freddy — stream the premiere episode of the new limited audio series Elm Street Revisited, now available exclusively on the Development Hell podcast feed from Dread Central.
Categorized: News
