It’s time to start dancing in the middle of the road with a piece of dangerous machinery, because Leatherface has found a new place to hang his fleshy mask.
Following a heated bidding war amongst Hollywood’s biggest studios, A24 now owns the rights to to the iconic Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise, which will soon take the form of both TV and film titles, Variety confirmed Feb. 4.
The marriage of studio and proto-slasher IP seems like the perfect fit, considering A24’s reinvention of modern horror through Robert Eggers’ The Witch, Ari Aster’s Hereditary, the Philippou brothers’ Talk to Me, and Ti West’s X trilogy.
A24 developing TV and film adaptations based on Texas Chainsaw Massacre
The small screen adaptation of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre hails from JT Mollner, screenwriter of The Long Walk and writer-director of Strange Darling.
“I’ve said publicly that I’m not interested in remaking perfect films, and the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a perfect film,” the filmmaker said in a statement run by Variety. “Tobe Hooper and Kim Henkel created something bold, transgressive, and truly seminal that holds up even today as the gold standard for horror. When the opportunity for a long form exploration into this world arose, I saw it as a fresh way in, as well as a way to honor the existing folklore. I can’t imagine better partners for this approach than A24. This is truly an honor.”
Not much is known about the two projects at this time, except that Mollner will not have a hand on the feature side.
Twisters and The Running Man star Glen Powell will executive produce the forthcoming efforts alongside fellow Barnstorm co-founder Dan Cohen (the latter is also a key figure at Shawn Levy’s 21 Laps).
“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is one of my favorite films,” Powell said. “It defined a generation of horror films and over half a century after its release, it remains one of the definitive movies of my home state. I’m honored to have Barnstorm help bring in a new chapter for such an iconic title and franchise. With a marquee home in A24 and visionary filmmaker with JT Mollner, alongside our top shelf producing partners, I couldn’t have dreamed of a better team for such a dream property.”
Other executive producers include Roy Lee, Steven Schneider, Stuart Manashil of Spooky Pictures; Ben Ross of Image Nation; and Kim Henkel, who co-wrote the 1974 original with director Tobe Hooper. Henkel serves as EP via his Exurbia Films company, bringing Ian Henkel and Pat Cassidy along for the ride as producers.
“It was a difficult decision, but A24’s embrace of boundary-testing genre film, and its record of working with artists who are inclined to test boundaries made them a compelling choice,” Henkel concluded. “Plus, we believe having a great creative and producing team—JT Mollner, Roy Lee, Dan Cohen and Glen Powell—in place gives us the best shot at a series that could be genuinely eye-opening and unexpected. There’s an epic tale lurking in the Chainsaw backstory.”
A24’s acquisition plans mark the latest in a recent trend of slasher-focused revamps such as David Gordon Green’s Halloween reboot trilogy at Universal, the film and TV interpretations of I Know What You Did Last Summer, and the upcoming Crystal Lake show (a prequel to Friday the 13th) at Peacock.