New Texas Chainsaw Massacre is ‘A Direct Sequel’ to the 1974 Classic

March 16, 2021

In a recent interview with Bloody Disgusting, producer Fede Alvarez (Don’t Breathe, Evil Dead) has finally opened up about Legendary Entertainment’s newest installment to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise, revealing some new details about the horror film. Alvarez confirmed that the upcoming 2021 film is indeed a direct sequel to Tobe Hooper’s original 1974 classic which will now feature an older version of the iconic serial killer.

“It is a direct sequel, and it is the same character. It is old man Leatherface,” Alvarez said.

He also went on to tease the film’s use of practical effects on the gory scenes as they’ve decided to use an old school approach in the production of the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre. “Everything is classic, old school gags. A lot of the approach that we had with Evil Dead – never VFX, to do everything on camera. It’s a very old school approach to filmmaking. Vintage lenses… it’s very similar to the original film.”

The new film, a continuation of Tobe Hooper’s 1974 seminal horror classic, marks the return of Leatherface, reintroducing one of the most iconic villains of the horror genre to a whole new generation. The movie helmed by Emmy winner David Blue Garcia (Tejano) from a script written by Chris Thomas Devlin.

It stars Golden Globe nominee Elsie Fisher (Eighth Grade), Sarah Yarkin (Happy Death Day 2U), Mark Burnham (Wrong Cops), Moe Dunford (The Dig), Olwen Fouéré (Mandy), Alice Krige (Star Trek), Jacob Latimore (The Maze Runner), Nell Hudson (Victoria), Jessica Allain (The Laundromat), Sam Douglas (Snatch), William Hope (Dark Shadows), and Jolyon Coy (War & Peace).

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie will be produced by Fede Alvarez, who is known for directing Don’t Breathe and 2013’s Evil Dead, along with Rodolfo Sayagues through the Bad Hombre banner. Kim Henkel, who co-wrote the 1974 film, is also producing alongside Ian Henkel and Pat Cassidy who are producing through their Exurbia Films.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise centers around Leatherface and his backwoods family, who terrorize innocent visitors trespassing their lands in the isolated Texas countryside. The original film was directed by Tobe Hooper (Poltergeist) and released in 1974. The franchise currently has a total of eight films with the most recent entry being the 2017 prequel simply titled Leatherface. Featuring cast members that included Matthew McConaughey, Renee Zellweger, Viggo Mortensen, and Dennis Hopper, the film series has grossed more than $235 million worldwide.

Legendary has had experience producing and reinventing films based on horror classics before such as Godzilla and King Kong who are now part of the same Monster-verse. They’ve also worked in horror with some original films like Michael Dougherty’s Trick ‘r Treat and Krampus, plus the big-budget Dracula Untold, and Guillermo del Toro’s Crimson Peak.