There’s no debate that the following movie villains are some of the most iconic characters in cinema history, but what have they been up to since their days of inspiring fear and terror on-screen have long since passed? Does Star Wars’ Darth Vader spend his lonely nights lamenting his poor life decisions? Will A Nightmare on Elm Street’s Freddy Krueger ever hold a heartfelt conversation with someone who is actually conscious (and did he ever have to move off Elm St)? And whatever happened to The Shining’s Grady twins? Photographer Federico Chiesa and effects artist Carolina Trotta decided to explore the answers to these questions in a series of photos depicting our favorite villains in their twilight years. I’ve got to say, Friday the 13th’s Jason Vorhees is one of my all-time favorites and apparently he has really fallen on hard times. Hit the jump to see what cinema’s classic ne’er-do-wells have been up to.

Platinum Dunes producer Brad Fuller took to the Twitter machine this weekend to provide updates on Friday the 13th Part II, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2, The Monster Squad, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  Despite director Marcus Nispel successfully rebooting the Friday the 13th franchise back in 2009, in April 2010 Fuller tweeted that the project was dead.  Today, Fuller tweets that screenwriters “[Damian] Shannon and [Mark] swift wrote a great script. We are ready to go, when new line is ready. But as of yet, they are not ready.”  As for Nightmare 2, Fuller says there isn’t even talk of writing a new script. That’s weird because in May 2010 there was talk of Warner Bros. green-lighting at 3D sequel and Fuller said “Freddy always has a story to tell.”  In his tweeting today, Fuller explained that studios aren’t interested in R-rated horror films and want tentpole films instead.

Hit the jump for what Fuller had to say regarding Monster Squad and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Audiences welcomed Freddy Krueger back into their nightmares this weekend – a new and not necessarily improved version of the saber-clawed dream-killer that debuted back in 1984. Freddy’s latest incarnation in A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) earned an estimated $32.2 million over its first three days; an impressive debut second only, in the annals of horror movie remakes, to 2009′s Friday the 13^th relaunch.

Freddy Krueger, the last of the classic horror headliners to get the full-on reboot treatment, slashed his way back into theatres on Friday.  Nightmare on Elm Street launched in 3,332 locations and rang up an estimated $15.9 million. That includes $1.6 million the redux took in from Thursday-midnight previews – a new horror movie best. Midnight records will be the only ones smashed on this Elm Street, however. Friday’s total is well below the $19.2 million opening for 2009′s Friday the 13^th, the last big horror reboot release. A three-day total of $35 million is expected – good enough for first place even with a big Saturday drop off. The weekend’s other newbie, Furry Vengeance, couldn’t crack the top five. The comedy landed at number six with $1.7 million on Friday from its 2,997 locations. Full weekend details when you check back tomorrow.

Platinum Dunes Producer Brad Fuller revealed on his Twitter feed [via Bloody-Disgusting] that Friday the 13th: Part 2 is dead.  That comes as a shock for several reasons.  First, almost every moderately successful movie gets a sequel these days.  Secondly, the first Friday the 13th grossed $90 million worldwide off a $20 million budget.  Yes, sequels have to be bigger than the original, but no one expects or is asking for an expensive Friday the 13th movie.

Fuller tried to explain on his Twitter that, “its not my call- i would drop everything and make it today if they wanted it,” and the reason is it’s off is “is a long story-.”  It’s a long story that I’m sure Fuller will be asked about when he does press for Platinum Dunes’ remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street, which opens on April 30th.

Steve spoke with Fuller and co-producer Andrew Form last year on the set of Nightmare on Elm Street.  Hit the jump for what Fuller and Form had to say about the Friday the 13th sequel back then.

While you might not know producers Andrew Form and Bradley Fuller by name, you’ve definitely seen their work.  As two of the three owners of Platinum Dunes (along with Michael Bay), they’ve produced The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Hitcher, The Amityville Horror, The Unborn, Friday the 13th (2009), and for the last year, they’ve been hard at work bringing Freddy back to life in New Line’s reboot of A Nightmare on Elm Street.

Back when the production was filming in Chicago last June, I was invited to the set – along with a few other online journalists.  While there I was able to participate in a very extended interview with the two producers.  During the interview, they talked about why they wanted director Samuel Bayer, how hard was it to land the Freddy franchise, why did they want to reboot it, why Jack Earle Haley, and so much more.  If you’re curious what goes on behind the scenes when trying to make a movie, it’s a fantastic read.

Hit the jump to read the transcript or listen to the audio:

Dust off your machetes, citizens of Crystal Lake, Warner Brothers has finally set a release date for the sequel to last February’s “Friday the 13th” franchise reboot/remake/whatever other buzz word. The follow up is set to be released August 13^th, 2010, and awesomely enough will be the 13^th film in the long running series beginning with Sean S. Cunningham’s original “Friday the 13th”. Hit the jump for some musings and a few rumors that have been circulating the interwebs about the continuing adventures of Jason Voorhees.

One of the many films that Warner Bros. promoted at this year’s Comic-Con was Platinum Dunes remake/reboot of “A Nightmare on Elm Street”. While I didn’t get to see the footage that played in Hall H, I did get to speak to producers Andrew Form and Brad Fuller before the presentation and they talked about making the film and how it’s a lot different than “Friday the 13^th“. If you’ve been looking forward to seeing Freddy return to movie theaters, you’re going to like this interview. Check it out after the jump:

Okay. Here’s a question to which you already know the answer; do you want to own a DVD copy of the 4^th, 5^th, and/or 6^th Friday the 13^th film

You don’t need me to tell you. In fact, if you need convincing to watch a Jason Vorhees movie…well then you don’t really want to see the 4^th, 5^th, or 6^th adventure of the big, mentally disabled, zombie serial killer*.

If you think you want these movies, you probably do. I could recommend some better films, like Brain Damage or Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2 or Wrong Turn 2:Ded End but if you clicked this article you’ve probably already seen/own those. If you don’t, I would recommend picking up Friday The 13^th Part 4: The Final Chapter as well as the unrated cuts of Brain Damage and Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2 instead of the 5^th and 6^th movies in this series. More after the jump:

I’m not going to lie, I think the Friday the 13th franchise pretty much sucks. I think that the fourth and sixth film have some good things about them, but Jason Vorhees the killer has very little personality, and often came off as a stuntman in a mask. The films work because you get exactly what you paid for: boobs and gore. On that level, I can’t really complain about the Friday franchise. They work on the level that they do. But I don’t understand being exceptionally loyal to them either. Though I can see how these films are more fun than the Saw movies, following both to me seems a bit silly, especially since quality comes off as an afterthought. Joseph Zito took it to the next level, and some of the directors tried harder than others, but it was a derivative franchise that owed a lot to both Halloween and Mario Bava.

And where I found the Platinum Dunes films lackluster until this point, I really enjoyed their take on Friday the 13th. With The Hitcher, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre they couldn’t compare to the originals (The Amityville Horror is a draw), but here they took everything that worked from the originals (boobs and gore) and then moved the story along at a quick enough clip. The film opens with a prolonged first act that establishes how Jason was born and his proficiency, and tells you everything you need to know: This is going to be slick exploitation that knows what it’s doing. More after the jump.

Last week I was on the set of Platinum Dunes “Nightmare on Elm Street” remake with a number of other websites. While I’m under embargo from writing about anything I saw while there, I was given permission to post what producers Andrew Form and Brad Fuller said about their other projects.

As most of you know, Andrew and Brad have been working non-stop these last few years making horror films like “Friday the 13th”, “The Hitcher”, “The Unborn”, “The Amityville Horror” and “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”. As you might imagine, they’ve got a few other projects in development…

The big news we learned is the sequel to “Friday the 13^th” is not yet greenlit, but they’ve got a script being written and they’ve already picked out “a nice date next summer that we hope everyone can see another Friday the 13th on. August 13, 2010.”

They also revealed we’re going to see something that’s never been done in a “Friday” film and that’s see Jason in the snow!

We also talked about if they’d do the film in 3-D and Andrew said, “I suspect it will not be in 3-D, although we’d love to make a 3-D horror movie.” Andrew explained since the cost would be a lot higher for 3-D and with the short turnaround time between filming later this year and a next summer release date, it’s probably not going to happen. But they both seemed excited by the possibilities.

They also talked about why they’re having problems developing “The Birds” remake and their original script called “Butcherhouse Chronicles”. It’s after the jump: