Paramount Pictures has inked a deal for the US rights to Wes Craven’s original screenplay for A Nightmare on Elm Street, the 1984 slasher centred on Freddy Krueger, a child killer who stalks his victims in their dreams. A new film is in the works under the studio’s new genre label, Paramount Primal, led by J.D. Lifshitz and Raphael Margules (Weapons, Barbarian).

While specific details are being kept under wraps, the film has been described as “set in the world of A Nightmare on Elm Street, based on the original screenplay.”

The rights have been licensed from the Craven estate, which includes the horror director’s widow, Iya Labunka, and his son, Jonathan Craven. The pair will produce the new film alongside Marc Toberoff, an attorney-turned-producer who specialises in copyright law, while Lifshitz and Margules will serve as executive producers.

“We look forward to bringing the world of Wes Craven’s Nightmare on Elm Street to a new and completely engaged generation of fans,” said Labunka. “We know that Wes would have been thrilled to see how horror is taking its long overdue place in the cultural canon.”

The new Nightmare on Elm Street movie follows the 2010 reboot and will mark the 10th instalment of the hit slasher franchise. Robert Englund famously played the razor-gloved killer, Freddy Krueger, in the first eight films, and has stated that he has retired from the role. New Line Cinema holds the rights to the original franchise, with the smash success of the 1984 film providing a pivotal launchpad for the studio that would go on to make The Lord of the Rings films.

Paramount was able to secure the rights after copyright laws allowed them to revert to Craven after 35 years.