Summary

Hollywood filmmakers Taylor Sheridan, Oz Perkins, and Jordan Peele are vying for the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise rights.
Each director would bring a unique vision to the story, focusing on landscape, villain, or political allegory.
The 2022 movie did not fare well with fans due to a lack of scares and unsatisfying ending.

Ever since horror fans first saw final girl Sally Hardesty (Marilyn Burns) in the 1974 slasher The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, it was clear that a major franchise was beginning. Several more movies followed, along with video games, and audiences got to know the diabolical and violent Leatherface. While Ghostface will always be my favorite villain, I appreciate Leatherface's pop culture legacy, and I can't argue with how memorable he is across the franchise's nine movies.

After hearing the recent news that several filmmakers are looking to take over the Texas Chainsaw Massacre

franchise rights, I'm excited about Leatherface's future. While of course all three can't win the rights, I would love to see each version of this creepy and iconic story.

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By Aya Tsintziras

Taylor Sheridan, Oz Perkins, And Jordan Peele Want The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Rights, And I Want To See These Horror Movies

According to Deadline, several big names in Hollywood are hoping to get the rights to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise: Taylor Sheridan of Yellowstone fame and horror filmmakers Osgood Perkins and Jordan Peele. While Perkins has written and directed several films, he wouldn't direct the movie and The Strangers director Bryan Bertino. Deadline reported that the filmmakers were starting to talk to Verve, the agency who owns the rights, on Monday, June 9th, 2025.

Based on their past work, each would produce a different version of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre story, and I think they would all be fascinating. Let's start with Taylor Sheridan's version. Since he's known for creating the hit Paramount Plus Western drama Yellowstone, I would imagine his Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie would be all about the beautiful, sprawling landscape and the loneliness that the main characters feel.

Osgood Perkins has become a huge name in the horror genre and recently wrote and directed Longlegs and The Monkey. While I can't get over what I thought was a big problem in Longlegs, I appreciate Perkins's vision as a filmmaker, and Perkins's movies are always literary, poetic, and compelling. Like Sheridan, Perkins would likely focus on the landscape, and there would be more than a few quiet and peaceful shots of Texas. Of course, this would be terrifying and unnerving since audiences would keep wondering when Leatherface was going to jump out of the shadows.

Perkins would make a great Texas Chainsaw Massacre since the story is all about Leatherface, and he has experience crafting a big, splashy, memorable villain. Nicolas Cage's Longlegs is more than a little eerie. I'm sure his Leatherface would look a bit different than in previous movies, but that would be a good thing. While not everyone loved The Monkey, which is set in the '90s and features some unique and unforgettable kills, I would imagine that Perkins's Texas Chainsaw Massacre would follow in that movie's footsteps and feature some kills that would get horror fans talking.

I would also love to see Jordan Peele's Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and after watching the brilliant Blumhouse movie Get Out and 2022's Nope, which both have important messages. I know his version would have a lot to say. Rather than make a straight slasher with Leatherface adding to his already huge body count, Peele's movie would be an allegory about a political issue. But, of course, Peele's work is so impressive that the storyline would be well-crafted and unpredictable.

The 2022 Texas Chainsaw Massacre Movie Wasn't Well-Received

While Leatherface is one of the most iconic and violent horror villains, not every film in the franchise is well-done. I agree with the many fans who were disappointed by Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the 2022 movie released on Netflix.

The movie only has a 30% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 25% rating on the Popcornmeter, which speaks to the lackluster story and upsetting ending. This time around, Leatherface is chasing Lila (Elsie Fisher) and Melody (Sarah Yarkin) in Harlow, Texas. The 2022 movie suffers from two main problems: a lack of scares and a bad ending. While Leatherface is as dark and violent as ever, the movie doesn't feel as unnerving as it should. I don't think that every horror movie needs a happy ending, and in fact, many slashers have fascinating, ambiguous conclusions. However, I think that 2022's Texas Chainsaw Massacre should have ended with at least one of the two new final girls surviving.

While fans wait to find out which filmmaker will win the rights to Leatherface's evil story, it's best to skip the 2022 movie and go back to the original.

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