Jackie Earle Haley (Watchmen) will play the new Freddy Krueger in New Line Cinema’s A Nightmare on Elm Street, scheduled for an April 16, 2010 release. The role was originally played by Robert Englund.
Samuel Bayer is directing the relaunch, which was written by Wesley Strick. The movie starts filming on May 5 in Chicago.
The Haunting in Connecticut star Kyle Gallner has been cast as Quentin in the film as well.
Platinum Dunes’ Andrew Form and Brad Fuller are producing. John Rickard is co-producing.
“Looking at his performance in ‘Watchmen,’ heres a guy playing a character under a mask yet you feel tremendous empathy for him,” Bayer told The Hollywood Reporter. “And in ‘Nightmare,’ he is going to be under prosthetic make-up. You have to feel something for the character. The greatest villains are multi-dimensional and I think he will bring that to the character.”
Bayer called this take of Krueger “Nosferatu meets Ed Gaines.”
