In the latest episode of Rewind of the Living Dead as part of our special “Texas Chainsaw” franchise series, we’re going to look back at “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” remake from 2003 and the “Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning” from 2006…
More than 25 years after Tobe Hooper created one of the most iconic horror films of all time with “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre,” action movie producer Michael Bay saw an opportunity to capitalize on the property after starting his own studio called Platinum Dunes that was created specifically with low budget films in mind.
Eventually, Bay’s company purchased the rights to the “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and the work began on reviving the franchise. Rumors abounded that Tobe Hooper would be involved with the project but ultimately a new director — Marcus Nispel and a first time screenwriter named Scott Kosar were brought on board to create an entirely new version of the film.
The Sawyer family was gone. Replaced by the Hewitt’s and many of the characters changed as well but one thing stayed the same — Leatherface was back. The remake was finally released in 2003 and after a small $9.5 million budget, the film raked in more than $100 million at the box office.
Three years later, Platinum Dunes returned with “Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning,” which was a prequel to the remake film from 2003. A new director and writer were brought on board with several returning cast members from the Hewitt family including R. Lee Ermey and Andrew Bryniarski as Thomas Hewitt aka Leatherface.
Despite a bigger budget, the film failed to find the same kind of success as the remake, although the movie was still profitable. Unfortunately, critics didn’t find much to enjoy about the prequel and plans for a third film in the franchise were scrapped.
In the latest episode of Rewind of the Living Dead as part of our special “Texas Chainsaw” franchise series, we’re going to look back at “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” remake from 2003 and the “Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning” from 2006…
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