20 Things You Didn’t Know About The Nightmare On Elm Street Franchise
12. Nightmare On Elm Street 4 Was Written In Just Seven Days
After being recommended by Robert Englund himself, screenwriter Brian Helgeland was hired to write A Nightmare on Elm Street 4. It was one of his first jobs in the industry, and as would be appropriate for a Nightmare film, it was something of a baptism by fire.
By the time Helgeland was hired, New Line had a release date set for Nightmare 4, which they set before even hiring a director or screenwriter. The studio was in such a rush to get the movie on track, and so they agreed to hire Helgeland only if he could get the entire script done in just seven days. Robert Shaye, head of New Line, told him that if he finished it even a single day later than that, they wouldn’t even look at it. He’s the kind of boss every college professor warned you about.
This was all happening in December, so Helgeland flew home for Christmas only to frantically churn out the script while hunched over his father’s kitchen table. He sent the completed version back to Los Angeles and just barely made the deadline.
That is an insanely short amount of time to crank out a 90 page screenplay, but luckily Brian Helgeland was talented enough that the film ended up being rather enjoyable despite the ridiculous time constraints placed on him by New Line.