In the 1970s, a new subgenre of horror was born: the slasher film. The 1960s had shown nascent versions of this formula with movies like Psycho and Peeping Tom, but ‘70s movies like Black Christmas and Halloween truly cemented that these ultra-violent movies weren’t going anywhere.
In 1974, one of the most iconic slasher movies ever hit theaters and started a nine-movie franchise that terrified audiences over and over again. Now, after a long battle for the rights, a modern horror film studio is bringing it back again — but in an entirely new form.
In 1974, Tobe Hooper made The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, a ruthless movie about Leatherface laying waste to an unlucky friend group. It has had a lasting legacy ever since — its production was even dramatized recently in the Ryan Murphy Netflix series Monster: The Ed Gein Story. (The real-life murderer reportedly inspired Leatherface.)
In September 2025, the future of the horror franchise went up for sale as multiple companies bid to acquire the rights to the story. Yellowstone’s TV behemoth, Taylor Sheridan (a Texas native himself) was in the discussion, as was Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions.
But ultimately, it was A24 that came out on top, the production company behind modern horror classics like Hereditary, Midsommar, and X — a movie that is essentially just a love letter to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Now, we know what A24 is planning to do with this story: a TV adaptation. According to Deadline, Strange Darling director and The Long Walk writer JT Mollner is attached to the series, with a fleet of producers including (another Texas boy) Glen Powell. But don’t expect him to don a leather mask; he’s only producing.
If a TV show of this classic story isn’t that exciting for you, don’t worry: A24 is also in early development stages on a feature film as well, but it’s so early in development that there are no details beyond that.
It’s been more than half a century since The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but now under the wing of one of the hottest movie studios, it could enter a new golden age in multiple forms, both movies and TV.
