Next ‘Texas Chainsaw’ To Follow Leatherface As A Teenager?

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The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, one of the most enduring horror franchises in movie history, may be making a return to the big screen. The story of Leatherface, his family and their penchant for torture, chainsaws, ? and cannibalism simply refuses to die, much like the iconic ? creature who wears the skin of his victims as a mask.

Lionsgate, who brought us the most recent installment in the franchise (the “sort of a reboot, sort of a sequel to the original” Texas Chainsaw 3D), is reportedly in talks with an unnamed writer to pen a follow-up to the 2013 film. If the report is true, the film will center on the teenage years of the iconic horror monster, which means this latest film in the franchise will be both a sequel to the original 1974 film and a prequel to the film from 2013.

This is actually nothing new in terms of Texas Chainsaw films. Most of the entries in the franchise have been attempts at recapturing the spirit of the original.

The first film, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, was directed by Tobe Hooper and produced for around $300,000, a tiny sum even back in the ’70s. While it depicts almost no gore and has no images of people being chainsawed to death, the film was initially given an X rating (the last X, in fact, before the MPAA switched to NC-17) and was banned in several cities and countries around the world.

Twelve years later, Hooper returned and made The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, which, while definitively a sequel, was also a sharp departure, with significantly more gore, a much higher budget and a number of darkly comedic moments.

The third film, Leatherface (1990), was also a follow-up to the first, having no mention at all of the second film and picking up more or less where the original left off. The 1994 film Next Generation – which starred Renee Zellweger (Bridget Jones) and Matthew McConaughey (True Detective) before they were stars – was, again, something of a remake and something of a sequel to the original.

The series then went silent for another decade before Michael Bay’s production company Platinum Dunes picked up the torch and produced a genuine remake of the original, which received very mixed reviews, but a very decent box office haul.


Much like the ’74 film created an all-new horror sub-genre, the success of the 2003 film is widely regarded as the impetus for the cavalcade of remakes of classic ’70s and ’80s horror franchises. In fact, Platinum Dunes itself is responsible for rebooting Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Amityville Horror and more.

The follow-up to the 2003 film, a prequel titled Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, was heavily panned and killed the series once again, until last year’s fifth sequel to the original was produced. And now Lionsgate seems to be hoping that six will be the lucky number.

But if this new Texas Chainsaw film is both a sequel to the original and a prequel to 3D – and it will follow Leatherface as a teenager – is the implication here that he was a teenager in the original, as well?

What do you think, Screen Rant readers? Do you want to see a film that focuses on a teenaged Leatherface?


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