UPDATE: Paramount is pushing back on the Warner framing. A source close to the studio tells Cosmic Book News the Primal project is not a shot-for-shot remake of the 1984 film and is instead set in the world of the original A Nightmare on Elm Street story. The shot-for-shot claim came from a Warner source in Puck’s report.
Two weeks ago, we told you Freddy Krueger had jumped to Paramount, calling the rights grab a heads-they-win, tails-they-win play.
Warner Bros. apparently took that as a challenge.
Puck’s Kim Masters reports Warner Bros. is now developing a rival A Nightmare on Elm Street movie and is in talks with Evil Dead Rise director Lee Cronin to write, direct, and produce it.
That leaves two studios racing to make competing Freddy movies from the same franchise, while the $110 billion merger that was supposed to put everything under one roof remains frozen in federal court.
Paramount’s Merger Gamble
The quick recap: Paramount’s new Primal genre label acquired the U.S. domestic rights to the original 1984 screenplay through the Wes Craven estate, which reclaimed the script through copyright termination with attorney Marc Toberoff.
Warner Bros. and its New Line label kept the international rights.
Now comes the real twist.
According to Masters, sources believe Paramount’s actual bet was that the merger would close before cameras rolled. Warner Bros. would then be stuck releasing Paramount’s Freddy movie overseas.
Warner film chiefs Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy reportedly hated the plan. Their response, per Puck, is to make a competing Elm Street movie that Warner Bros. can release internationally, with Cronin now in talks to lead it.
A source close to Paramount Primal gave Puck a statement insisting the domestic deal was negotiated entirely on its own terms, with no expectations beyond the U.S. rights.
Notice how carefully that is worded.
It has to be.
Merging companies are not allowed to operate as one before a deal closes, and Paramount already agreed in court not to complete the purchase until a verdict, which may not arrive until June 2027.
A movie greenlit on the assumption that Warner Bros. would eventually be forced to distribute it is exactly the kind of exhibit the states suing to block this deal would love to wave in front of a judge.
Instead of one Freddy movie benefiting from the merger, two competing movies are now moving forward because the merger has stalled.
Warner Bros. Calls Its Horror Hitmaker
Cronin is not some random name pulled from a hat.
Evil Dead Rise made $147 million worldwide on a budget under $20 million for New Line in 2023. His R-rated reimagining of The Mummy this spring, again for Warner Bros. and New Line, was softer with critics but still profitable, earning close to $100 million worldwide on a $22 million budget.
By calling their proven low-budget horror director, De Luca and Abdy are telling Paramount they know exactly how this math works, and believe they can run the play faster.
Speed is the entire game.
Masters reports Warner Bros.’ calculation is simple: if its movie starts shooting first, Paramount will have to fold.
Paramount’s counter is legitimacy.
The Craven estate’s Iya Labunka and Jonathan Craven are producing the Primal version alongside Toberoff, and a Paramount insider argues the estate’s blessing is what fans will ultimately care about.
Per Puck, Warner Bros. also approached the Craven estate but walked away when the rights holders demanded too much of the back end.
A Warner source also floated a spicier theory, suspecting Paramount received an assist from WME, possibly from Ari Emanuel, the same superagent publicly carrying water for the merger.
The Freddy Math
Paramount reportedly believes a modestly budgeted Elm Street movie can make at least $70 million even if it never plays outside America.
A Warner source counters that Paramount’s deal effectively boxes it into a shot-for-shot remake of the 1984 film, with no merchandising rights, and questions how big that movie can really get.
Both sides have receipts, which is why this is a real fight rather than a bluff.
A Paramount insider told Masters flat out: “We’re going to do our f*cking damndest to beat them.”
De Luca Is Fighting the Studio That Wants Him
De Luca is the same executive insiders say David Ellison views as essential to fixing Star Trek after the merger. He is also half of the Warner Bros. film duo reportedly holding the keys to DC while James Gunn’s fate gets sorted out.
Now he is the executive trying to torch Paramount’s Freddy plan before the two companies even become one.
Either De Luca is negotiating his future the fun way, or the honeymoon is already over before the wedding.
This is the exact problem everyone warned about when the merger was announced: what happens when two studios headed for the same roof both want the same toy?
The answer arrived early, and the deal has not even closed.
As for who ends up wearing the glove, that may now come down to which Freddy escapes the boiler room first.
