Special guest found for Never Sleep Again
The crew on the set of Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy is ecstatic. On the recording stage, franchise star Heather Langenkamp is in the hot seat, talking about her turn as Nancy Thompson. Probably for the thousandth time. However, another special guest is arriving today.
“Mark Patton,” reveals co-producer and co-writer Thommy Hutson, wearing a t-shirt with Patton’s visage (screaming while wearing a Krueger glove) and the exclamation “He’s been found!” brandished across the chest. The Nightmare on Elm Street 2 star disappeared off the face of the Earth Stephen Geoffreys-style once the film was released. “In this day and age, I found it disconcerting we could not find this guy. But we did and we’re super excited. He was thrilled we wanted him to be a part of it. So we’re looking forward to delving into the mind of Mark Patton to see what he thinks of all of this and ask why did he go away?â
Patton is just one of the many, many guests participating in Never Sleep Again, a feature-length documentary that was pulled together with mostly the same team that brought us His Name Was Jason. At the helm, again, is director Daniel Farrands joined by Andrew Kasch.
“For me, it wasn’t about the [upcoming] remake,” Hutson explains, commenting honestly on the impetus to spearhead the documentary. “I have talked to Heather [Langenkamp] for a long time about doing something like this and obviously Heather has such a big history. We talked for a while about doing this – she knows a lot of people, I know a lot of people. His Name Was Jason came out [earlier this year] and fans really seemed to enjoy it so why not do something like that but for Nightmare on Elm Street?”
Don’t expect a cookie cutter narrative format similar to the Friday the 13th doc. Hutson assures us that, stylistically, Never Sleep Again is going for another approach that will dissect each film beginning with Wes Craven’s original classic on through to Freddy vs. Jason.
“Where His Name Was Jason was much more about the character of Jason as opposed to the making of those individual movies, what we’re going for here is a really intense, deep, interesting behind-the-scenes look at all of the films. Fans will hear stories they haven’t heard before.”
Langenkamp is working on a companion piece to Never Sleep Again entitled, “I Am Nancy,â while also taking an executive producing credit on Never Sleep Again. “She’s being a wonderful God parent to us and as far as creativity, she has brought stuff to the table. It’s worked out great. It was wonderful that she lent her name to this and I think it was instrumental in opening a lot of doors. She has a lot of insight and knows what it’s about, where it’s going and just what it’s like to be a part of it.”
“We really are trying to make something special for both the fans and the talent alike,” Hutson says before returning to the manic day-to-day scheduling he has on his plate. “Having interviewed so many people for this Nightmare retrospective is special all unto its own, but after seeing and hearing so many cast and crew talk about their memories, it really hit home that we’re creating something that is more than just a look back. The passion and energy everyone is bringing to this is amazing, and I think it proves the point of why these movies last: Wes created something unique and original. It’s a legacy that really does live on in the hearts and minds of everyone who worked on – and saw – the films.”
Never Sleep Again will arrive sometime in early 2010.
Source: Ryan Rotten, Managing Editor
