Can A24 make chainsaws prestigious? That's the $10 million question behind the studio's new Texas Chainsaw Massacre series, with Hollywood's current golden boy Glen Powell attached as producer.
According to Variety, A24 is developing both a TV series and a film set in the Chainsaw universe, with JT Mollner (Strange Darling) directing the series. Powell is producing through his company, lending his increasingly valuable name to what is, let's be honest, exploitation horror.
This is brand tension at its finest. A24 built its reputation on "elevated" genre fare - Hereditary, Midsommar, X - horror films with Serious Themes and Art Direction. They make the kind of scary movies critics can praise without feeling guilty.
But Texas Chainsaw Massacre? That's Tobe Hooper's 1974 grindhouse masterpiece, a film that earned its reputation through sheer visceral brutality. It's not elevated; it's primal. Leatherface doesn't represent patriarchal violence or capitalist decay - he just wants to make you into dinner.
The question is whether A24 will try to make it "elevated" or embrace the grindhouse roots. The smart money is on the former - they didn't build a prestige brand to suddenly go full splatter-punk. Expect thematic depth, atmospheric dread, and probably some commentary on rural America or family trauma.
As for Powell? This is an interesting calculation. He's coming off Top Gun: Maverick and , positioning himself as a classical movie star in the mold. Why attach your name to chainsaw murders?
