A24 Is Officially Working on a Texas Chainsaw Massacre Reboot - MCE Notices | California State Portal

It all began with a group of friends, a road trip, and a family of slaughterers, a barbaric rural nightmare that would go on to become one of the greatest horror franchises of all time. Back in 1974, Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was a brutal addition to the genre, introducing terrified viewers to the wrath of Leatherface and his cruel inflictions on those who dared to cross his path.

Now, 52 years and eight sequels later, the chainsaw-wielding villain is set to return. Winning the prize piece of horror IP in an auction last year, A24 is officially rebooting the grimy, gruesome franchise, with upstart filmmaker Curry Barker helming the project. Fresh off the success of his debut feature, Obsession, Barker’s upcoming project is billed as a reimagining of the 1974 original, promising a return to the rawness of Hooper’s horrifying masterpiece.

A24 Is Officially Rebooting The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Last year, during a reportedly competitive, months-long bidding war among major Hollywood studios, A24 secured the film and TV rights to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Armed with the rights, the studio announced it was developing a TV series, directed by JT Mollner and produced by Glen Powell, as well as a new The Texas Chainsaw Massacre film.

Fans familiar with Hooper’s 1974 original will already know the challenge ahead. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is infamous for its unsettling atmosphere and documentary-style realism, introducing a new era of masked killers, gore, and final girls that changed the face of horror filmmaking.

Fans would also know that, since Hooper’s masterpiece, the franchise has seen a mix of solid and forgettable sequels, many of which have regurgitated the same story: a group of friends goes on a road trip, comes face-to-face with Leatherface, and carnage ensues. So, how does Barker plan to reimagine a horror icon for a new audience?

Although the project is still in early development, Barker has already shared some of his intentions. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he confirmed it won’t be a straight recreation of the original, saying he “wouldn’t be interested” unless he could approach it with a fresh twist that still honors what came before. He also noted that the franchise’s continuity is already somewhat jumbled, leaving the original film as the main point of reference.

Direct about what he doesn’t want to replicate from the sequels, he explained, “Some of those movies just turn out to be a guy with a chainsaw chasing a person around. It doesn’t work to just have a chase movie. They’re hiding in a barn. It gets old. And I don’t buy it – a chainsaw is loud, but they don’t hear it?”

Barker intends to reimagine the franchise for a new generation, aiming to “capture the rawness and the groundedness” of Hooper’s unscrupulous original. In terms of specifics, the film is set to follow a group of travelers who are stalked and hunted by a deranged rural Texas cannibal.

However, fans can expect a more personal and emotional version of the overdone story. How exactly Barker plans on doing this is currently unknown, but considering Obsession’s themes of affection, autonomy, and codependency within a twisted story about a wishing branch, it’s clearly something he’s capable of achieving.

As for casting, nothing has yet been announced, with Barker only recently attached as writer and director. Since the project is still in early development, there’s also no official release date yet. However, reports suggest a late 2027 or early 2028 release window.

Curry Barker Is the Best Person for the Texas Chainsaw Reboot

Image via Focus Features

A horror cinema classic helmed by an iconic director, whoever takes on The Texas Chainsaw Massacre has big shoes to fill. David Blue Garcia, Alexandre Bustillo, and John Luessenhop are just a few of the filmmakers who attempted to step into this role, leaving audiences with rather bleak and repetitive reimaginings, remakes, and sequels that subverted Hooper’s vision.

So, it’s understandable why some fans may be unconvinced that A24’s reboot is going to bring anything fresh to the horror franchise. However, if there’s any director who has proven himself capable of taking the reins, no matter how new he may be in the horror world, it’s Curry Barker.

Beginning with his YouTube and festival shorts, Barker has become one of the hottest young directors in the industry. Described as the most original horror of the decade, Obsession has achieved record-breaking success since its May 2026 release, becoming Focus Features’ highest-grossing film with almost $300 million globally. This, along with an impressive 94% RT score, points to a promising future for the 26-year-old filmmaker.

Its success aside, Obsession shows Curry’s knack for psychological horror. Through his twisted story of an infatuated man (Michael Johnston) using a One Wish Willow to win his crush’s (Inde Navarrette) heart, the filmmaker explores themes of coercive control and consent. Focusing strongly on Nikki’s loss of selfhood with uncomfortable bursts of consciousness, the terrifying horror analyzes the distressing effects of non-consensual intimacy and mental abuse.

Fans of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise would likely consider this skill irrelevant. The horror series has become very much about gore and slasher tropes, as Curry pointed out. However, if fans were to ignore the many sequels and revert to the original, they’d realize that Hooper’s horror was just as psychological as it was brutal.

Despite its reputation, the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre has very little on-screen blood and gore. Much of its violence is implied, leaving the viewers’ imagination to fill in the sickening gaps as Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen) and the Sawyer family torment Sally (Marilyn Burns) and her friends.

Throwing viewers into the final girl’s mind, especially through scenes like the dinner table, the film creates a sensory overload that naturally sparks an unsettling feeling of panic. It’s a suffocating exploration of the darkest corners of human nature, building slowly, albeit chaotically, to its disturbing climactic shot of Sally laughing hysterically out of fear and relief.

Now considered a slasher for its tropes and the series that followed, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is a terrifying study of psychological torture and the randomness of violence. Should Curry stick to his plans to pay tribute to this, then fans could finally have a faithful sequel. Proven by Obsession, the young filmmaker has the skill to reimagine Hooper’s power of suggestion and themes, hopefully reviving one of the greatest horror franchises.