Dark Sky Films and Exurbia Films have confirmed that the project is in production for a planned 2027 release. Artists will trace the original live-action footage frame by frame, recreating its characters, rural landscapes and violent confrontations through traditional illustration rather than computer-generated animation.
The production will not use artificial intelligence. Every frame is expected to be drawn by artists, making the film a labour-intensive reinterpretation rather than a conventional remake with a new cast or altered storyline.
Animation director and art director Paul Beck said the team intends to preserve the power of Hooper’s film while giving viewers a different way to experience material that has shaped horror cinema for more than five decades. Beck previously worked on Richard Linklater’s A Scanner Darkly, one of the best-known modern films to use rotoscoped animation.
Rotoscoping involves drawing over live-action images to reproduce realistic movement. The method was used in early animated productions and later became central to films such as Ralph Bakshi’s The Lord of the Rings, American Pop and Fire and Ice. Linklater also used it in Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly to create fluid images that move between realism and illustration.
The technique could be particularly suited to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, which relies heavily on physical movement, harsh sunlight, confined interiors and frantic camera work. The animated version is expected to retain the original actors’ gestures and expressions while replacing the photographed image with hand-drawn artwork.
Audiences will receive an early look at the project on August 18 during Texas Chain Saw Day, when the original film returns to cinemas across the United States in a restored 4K presentation. A behind-the-scenes featurette will show the animation process and include footage from the work in progress.
August 18 has become closely associated with the film because its fictional events begin on that date in 1973. The special screening is being organised by Dark Sky Films and Fathom Entertainment, extending a programme of theatrical reissues that has kept the low-budget production visible to new generations of viewers.
Released in 1974, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre follows five young travellers who encounter a violent family in rural Texas. Marilyn Burns played survivor Sally Hardesty, while Gunnar Hansen portrayed Leatherface, the masked killer whose chainsaw and improvised human-skin disguises became defining images of the franchise.
Hooper directed the film and co-wrote it with Kim Henkel. Made with limited resources, it used documentary-style photography, natural locations and intense sound design to create the appearance of uncontrolled violence. Much of its reputation was built without extensive on-screen gore, despite its enduring status as one of cinema’s most disturbing horror films.
The original faced censorship battles and release restrictions in several markets, but its influence expanded through home video, restoration programmes and theatrical revivals. It generated sequels, prequels, remakes, comics, games and merchandise, though later entries produced sharply different critical and commercial results.
The animated edition arrives during another period of expansion for the property. A24 is developing a separate live-action film under director Curry Barker, who built his reputation through low-budget horror before moving into larger productions. That project has been described as a reimagining rather than a direct continuation of the 2022 Netflix film.
A television series is also in development, with filmmaker JT Mollner attached to direct and Glen Powell serving as an executive producer through his Barnstorm production company. Roy Lee and Steven Schneider are involved through Spooky Pictures, while Henkel remains connected to the franchise’s new screen projects.
Mollner has indicated that the television production will explore the mythology surrounding the original story instead of recreating Hooper’s film scene by scene. The animated feature takes the opposite route, returning directly to the 1974 footage but changing the medium through which it is presented.
The decision to emphasise hand-drawn work also places the project within a wider debate over artificial intelligence in film production. Animation studios and artists have raised concerns about automated image generation, copyright, employment and the use of creative work to train commercial systems without permission.
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