Curry Barker is booked and busy. If his name sounds familiar, it’s probably because you’ve seen him flooding headlines following the release of his debut feature film, Obsession. The filmmaker has quickly established himself as one of the youngest rising talents in the industry, making a major impact at the box office and attracting global attention.

Beyond Obsession, Barker has already been tapped to write and direct another horror film set within the same universe, Anything But Ghosts. But perhaps his most high-profile project yet is a reimagining of the 1974 classic The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Following A24’s acquisition of the franchise rights, Barker is attached to both write and direct the reboot.

If you’ve seen the original film, you’ll understand the challenge ahead. Tobe Hooper’s landmark horror movie became renowned for its grimy, unsettling atmosphere and its revolutionary blend of indie filmmaking and documentary-style realism. That raw aesthetic has contributed to the modern slasher genre while cementing the image of the masked killer as one of horror’s most enduring icons.

So how will Barker step into those sizeable shoes and reinvent a horror classic for a new generation? Below, discover everything we know so far about Curry Barker’s reimagining of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

Will it follow the original plot?

While development of the feature is still in early discussions and development, Barker does have some thoughts and notes on how he wants to do it. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter said it won't be entirely the same as the original, explaining, "I wouldn’t be interested if I didn’t think I could find a way in that feels fresh and new, while still respecting the original. The canon itself is all over the place, so there’s not much to stay loyal to other than the original."

As for what he doesn't want to emulate from the first 10 films in the franchise, he's clear on that too. "Some of those movies just turn out to be a guy with a chainsaw chasing a person around. It doesn’t work to just have a chase movie. They’re hiding in a barn. It gets old. And I don’t buy it – a chainsaw is loud but they don’t hear it?"

So what can we expect? "I want to make a new generation of people scared and give them this feeling of: 'What if you went on a road trip with your friends and this happened to you?' I want to capture the rawness and the grounded-ness of the original," he described.

In terms of specifics, it's set to follow a group of travellers that get stalked and hunted by deranged rural Texas cannibal. But we're expecting a more personal and emotional version. And it makes sense. In order to have the horror work you have to have the emotional aspect to be invested and have high stakes. And after seeing Obsession, we absolutely know this is something Barker can deliver.

No one has been cast yet

The official cast has yet to be announced, with Barker only recently joining the project as writer and director. A24, Spooky Pictures and Exurbia Films are on board to produce.

When will it be released?

As the film is actively in development, we have no official release date. However, with the current timeline, we expect Texas Chainsaw Massacre to release in late 2027 or early 2028.