Have Platinum Dunes found their Freddy Krueger? Bloody Disgusting is reporting that long-rumored (and fan casting stalwart) Jackie Earle Haley is in final negotiations to star as the finger-bladed dream killer in the upcoming reboot of A Nightmare on Elm Street.
Haley would indeed be amazing in the role, if he opted to take it. And it could be the second major part he gets at the insistence of the internet (it will never go down in history, but let it be known that CHUD made his casting in Watchmen happen). But if Haley is who Platinum Dunes is after, this marks a major change from their usual MO. They’ve gone after TV actors in the past, but Haley, while having been out of the game for decades, is more respected than anybody who came off the Vancouver set of Supernatural. And he’s possibly the most serious actor that Platinum Dunes will have worked with; while I’m sure Gary Oldman is a very serious dude, after talking to him this week on a set about how he chooses roles I’m willing to bet that he didn’t take The Unborn all that seriously. Haley, however, will dive into the role of Freddy Krueger.
Whoever dons the glove, we should know the casting soon. The Elm Street reboot is shooting in Chicago in the next few weeks.