Audrie Bretl Martin
Fans of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise received an early Halloween gift on October 19, when a poster for the upcoming reboot, currently called, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2021, was revealed in a trailer for the new Call of Duty video game. The poster led the audience to the official Texas Chainsaw Massacre website and a haunting new image of the film’s protagonist, Leatherface.
The poster is a watercolor depiction of Leatherface with the words, “In 1974, the world witnessed one of the most bizarre crimes in the annals of American history. In 2021, the face of madness returns.” If you look closely toward the bottom of the image, you can see a dancing Leatherface holding his chainsaw above his head—a nod to the original film.
This newest offering in the franchise will be in cannon and a direct continuation of Tobe Hooper’s original 1974 feature film. Director, David Blue Garcia, is said to be working from a script written by Chris Devlin. The movie is currently set to star Elsie Fisher (“Castle Rock”), Sarah Yarkin (Happy Death Day 2 U), Jacob Latimore (The Maze Runner), Mark Burnham (Wrong Cops), Nell Hudson (Victoria), Alice Krige (Star Trek), Jessica Allain (The Laundromat), Sam Douglas (Snatch), William Hope (Dark Shadows), Jolyon Coy (“War & Peace”), and Moe Dunford (Vikings). Frede Alvarez (Evil Dead, Don’t Breathe) is producing with Bad Hombre’s Rodolfo Sayagues, along with Kim Henkel (co-writer of the 1974 film), Ian Henkel and Pat Cassidy, who are producing via their Exurbia Films.
Legendary Entertainment purchased the rights to the franchise in 2018 and announced a reboot along with a possible television series. An official title and plot details have yet to be revealed at the time of publishing.
Tobe Hooper’s classic film spawned many remakes, reboots, and sequels, most notably 2006’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning and the latest, Leatherface (2017), which is billed as a prequel to the original film. It is difficult to say what the plot of this offering might be but fans have speculated that it may revolve around Leatherface, who is now 60-years-old, and include two characters named Melody and Dreama. Melody is said to be a 25-year-old San Francisco businesswoman who takes her younger sister with her to Texas on a business trip not wanting to leave her alone in the city. Dreama is an amateur photographer who is wheelchair-bound and permanently disabled—a possible throwback to the original film’s character, Franklin (Paul Partain). We can only hope that filmmakers will clue us all in on further details sooner than later.
