Paramount has acquired the U.S. rights to Wes Craven’s original 1984 screenplay for A Nightmare on Elm Street and plans to reboot the franchise under its new genre label, Paramount Primal. The deal matters because the series has long been closely associated with New Line, but U.S. copyright law allowed the Craven estate to reclaim and then license those rights elsewhere. Although the move is separate from the proposed Paramount-Warner Bros merger, the franchise could still end up under the same wider corporate ownership, albeit through different labels and split territorial rights.

The Craven estate regained the rights in 2019, 35 years after publication, with attorney Marc Toberoff involved; New Line retains international rights, and no writer has yet been attached. The franchise has produced eight films and grossed more than $438 million worldwide, though older foreign earnings are not fully reflected in that figure. Freddy vs. Jason remains the top-grossing entry at $116.6 million, followed by the 2010 reboot at $115.6 million, and the series has been inactive since then despite continued value in merchandise, comics and video games.