Is 'Scream 7' DOA?
Three directors out, two stars out, one formerly disgruntled star returning. How can 'Scream 7' stick its impossible landing?
My algorithm of late, cursed as ever, is filled with updates about Scream 7, the currently-in-production latest entry in the troubled franchise’s lineage. It’s a production that’s been stumbling from the outset, as I outlined in a story from last year titled “The Pyrrhic Victory of Scream 7.”
Few franchises have such divergent reactions to the canon. For instance, some, including Scream and Scream 2 screenwriter Kevin Williamson, see Scream 3 as an abject failure, torpedoing the potential for horror’s greatest trilogy. Others see it as simply, like Christina Aguilera’s Bionic, too ahead of its time. “How Scream 3 Told The Story Of #MeToo Movement 17 Years Before It Unfolded,” reads one headline. The same can be said for Scream (2022) (which I’ll henceforth refer to as Scream 5) and its companion, Scream VI. While I find them paltry entries that merely attempt to reclaim the glory of their source material without ever uncovering new grounds, others disagree. “While still a far cry from the elegance of Wes Craven’s original, Scream VI is the best installment in the series since the second film,” wrote Vanity Fair’s Richard Lawson. But even this praise comes at undermining 50% of the franchise.
In 2022, Williamson was asked for his thoughts on the third entry to the franchise, Scream 3, which was released in 2000, helmed by Ehren Kruger with a script based on Williamson’s concept. Williamson called Scream 3 “messy,” citing details in the film that were logistically implausible, such as the power being out but a fax still coming through.
"Little things like that I was like, 'That's just sloppy.’"
However, he keenly admits that though things bugged him throughout, he went into the film looking to be bugged. In other words, he came in hot.
"I wasn't just coming to it as a moviegoer; I was coming to it as someone who didn't write it, who should have."
Really hot!
So when Williamson announced that he was rejoining the franchise after 27 years for its seventh go-round, fans were both surprised and elated, eager to see if the tone, the inventiveness and the rich characters introduced in his original entries could be revived once more. After all, this was the man who created Casey Becker, Randy Meeks and Tatum Riley, who gave us iconic lines like “Do you like scary movies?” and “If I’m right about this, I could save a man’s life. Do you know what that would do for my book sales?" and who created one of the genre’s best (and most resilient) final girls in Sidney Prescott.
Only it wasn’t announced that Williamson would be writing the script for Scream 7. That would be Guy Busick, who wrote the film’s fifth and sixth entries with James Vanderbilt (who would not be returning this go-round). Williamson would instead be directing the film, something he hadn’t done since 1999’s Teaching Mrs. Tingle — his one and only time directing a film. Still, this should be some return to form for a franchise that will surpass $1B in worldwide box office with this film? Yet, the vibes remain considerably off. Why?