Institutional Context - A Nightmare On Elm Street - JP

A Nightmare On Elm Street - New Line Cinema

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) is an independent film produced by NewLine Cinema. It 's an American supernatural slasher horror film written and directed by Wes Craven, and was the first film of the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. The film stars Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon, Ronee Blakley, Amanda Wyss, Jsu Garcia, Robert Englund, and Johnny Depp in his feature film debut.

New Line Cinema
New Line Film Productions Inc., normally referred to as New Line Cinema, is an American film studio founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye as a film distribution company, which later became an independent film studio. It then became a subsidiary of Turner Broadcasting, after the release of the first 'Nightmare On Elm Street' film, then Time Warner in 1996, and was merged with larger sister studio Warner Bros. in 2008.

Box Office
The film premiered in the United States with a limited theatrical release on November 9, 1984, opening in 165 cinemas across the country. Grossing $1.2mil during its opening weekend, the film was considered an instant success. The film eventually earned a total of $25.5mil at the American box office. Then the film was subsequently released in Australia, Canada and across Europe, emphasising the success.

Home Video Distribution
The film was first introduced to the home video market by Media Home Entertainment in early 1985 and was eventually released on Laserdisc. It was then released on DVD, first in 1999 in the United States as part of the Nightmare on Elm Street Collection box set, and once again as a 'Special Edition' in 2006, containing various special features with contributions from Wes Craven, Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon and the director of photography, meaning fans of the film would be more enticed to buy the DVD, and more money could be made.

Promotion
As part of the synergistic promotional activity for the fifth film in the franchise, a game was brought out by Nintendo, called 'A Nightmare On Elm Street', which focussed on the main character in the franchise, Freddy Krueger, who is one of the most infamous fictional characters globally. The target audience for the film was teenagers and young adults, and that is the average age range of gamers, so that meant that gamers and cinemagoers were more likely to know about and be more interested in the franchise, through media exposure.

Success
The success of the film is shown through the fact that it was a basis of a franchise consisting of nine films, spanning over 25 years, showing great longevity. As well as the franchise, there have been numerous crossovers with, or references of the film, recently in popular TV series 'The Simpsons' and 'South Park', which are viewed by millions every week.