Things have been quiet on the Texas Chainsaw Massacre series for a while now, but the latest reboot has its official title: the highly creative Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

The news comes courtesy of the MPA, who gave the film an R rating in the US (equivalent to either a 15 or an 18 over here in the UK) for “strong bloody horror violence and gore, and language.” The ratings board also confirmed that the film will hit cinemas at some point in 2021, though a firm release date has yet to be set.

The new info is right on brand for the horror franchise, which is notorious for its gory style of terror across all of its eight films. The upcoming film is the ninth in the series, but will apparently be a direct sequel to Tobe Hooper’s 1974 original and ignore the events of all the other films. This method has worked for long-running horror franchises in the past (see: David Gordon Green’s Halloween reboot-sequel in 2018 – itself due a sequel later this year), but this new film isn’t the first in the Chainsaw series to try it.

The original series continuity ran for four films between 1974 and 1995. A Michael Bay-produced reboot was released in 2003, with a prequel following in 2006. In 2013, the series was rebooted again with Texas Chainsaw 3D, which disregarded all other films bar the original. A prequel to this new continuity, titled Leatherface, was released in 2017. No subsequent film since the original has had the intended or desired impact, which is presumably why studios keep hitting the reset button. And don’t worry if you’re confused about the timeline: we are too! This mess gives X-Men a run for its money, and that’s saying something.

The new film has been produced by Fede Alvarez, director of Don’t Breathe and the Evil Dead remake, written by Chris Thomas Devlin, and directed by David Blue Garcia. Garcia was hired late in the game after previous directors Ryan and Andy Tohill were fired only a week into shooting – the reason for their firing is unclear at this stage.

The reboot sees a 60-year-old Leatherface terrorising sisters Melody and Dreama, who head to the Texan countryside on a business trip (don’t worry, that last bit doesn’t make sense to us either). Mark Burnham is playing Leatherface, while Olwen Fouere is on board as Sally Hardesty, the protagonist of the original film. Elsie Fisher and Sarah Yarkin also star.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre will be bludgeoning its way into cinemas later this year.