by Peter Jackson
Back before Peter Jackson was a hugely successful director, New Line invited him to take a crack at the Freddy franchise. (Jackson was actually sleeping on Mark Ordesky’s couch for a time.)
I’ve found references to the script, and it can be seen in a behind-the-scenes doc on the Infinifilm DVD release of A Nightmare on Elm Street, but it probably hasn’t been distributed online. If anyone knows where it can be found, please let me know!
Here’s the story as recounted in Peter Jackson: From Prince of Splatter to Lord of the Rings by Ian Pryor.
Jackson’s first Hollywood paycheck involves the complex family tree of Freddy Krueger… Jackson’s first films Bad Taste and Meet the Feebles caught the attention of a number of New Line staff, including scriptreader Mark Ordesky. Though Ordesky failed to persuade his bosses to distribute either film, Jackson and Feebles scriptwriter Danny Mulheron were instead offered the chance to write a script for Elm Street…
Jackson and Mulheron’s script begins with Freddy initially having lost much of his power to terrify. Teenagers in Springfield take sleeping pills so that they can go into the dream world and take turns attacking him. the film’s hero is a policeman in a coma, who finds himself in the dream world, where he discovers Krueger. “The climax of it was the deconstruction of Freddy Krueger,” says Mulheron. “By confronting him with his impotence, he lost his ability to scare.” Jackson and Mulheron’s script was paid for but never used, partly because Elm Street production veteran Rachel Talalay had drafted a treatment for her own film Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare. New Line commissioned a script based upon this treatment, which failed to satisfy, after which Talalay asked New Line executive Michael De Luca to write the script himself. Freddy’s Dead was filmed in early 1991. New Line staff, enthused by the Jackson Mulheron script, later asked Jackson if he might want to work on their long-in-development Freddy Versus Jason, but Jackson turned them down.
Can I read anything from the screenplay or any info you have. I’ve been looking for it my self with no luck.
As far as I know, it’s never been leaked online. Maybe someday it will be released, who knows?
I wrote a screenplay that I copywrote at the guild of america. Called JASON : Friday the 13th. People who are film geeks that don’t like horror or the friday the 13th series really liked it and the social undertones of it. I’m also writing A Nightmare on Elm Streety sequel something never done and it makes perfect cents. wish I could pitch my three ideaas to New Line all of them are and would be great for the franchise.
Let me applaud you for following your muse and completing at least one screenplay. That’s more than most people “with an idea” do. There are a few things I think you should know.
1) Registering your work with the WGA is different than copyrighting. Your work is automatically yours the second you finish it, and registering with the guild helps back that up, but they have nothing to do with copyright. If you want to register your copyright more officially, that means sending it with a small fee to the U.S. Copyright Office. http://copyright.gov/
2) Writing fan scripts and treatments can be fun, but studios are not generally interested in taking such pitches. I’m sure others would tell you the same thing. Also, writing or producing pieces about characters you don’t own restricts what you can do with the material down the road.
3) If your last comment here is any indication, spelling is not your strong point. Make sure you have someone you trust proofread your scripts for spelling and grammar.
Good luck!