Was bringing back Kevin Williamson to the "Scream" franchise a good idea? The box office numbers would suggest it was — a franchise-record $200M+ worldwide tally..
But beneath the glossy numbers, "Scream 7" just wasn't very good — a clunky, back-to-basics instalment with wooden direction and laughable writing courtesy of Williamson. Many agree it was bad, but with the kind of numbers it made at the box office, of course an eighth one would happen.
Neve Campbell has now confirmed she will return as Sidney Prescott for "Scream 8," which is currently in development. Shocking, I know. The actress, who has had little else going on in her movie career besides "Scream," will be back for a new "Scream." Let's just hope it's better than the last one.
That said, this write-up comes from someone who isn't the biggest fan of the franchise — the last "Scream" movie I "liked" came out almost two decades ago. The studio is stretching this nearly three-decade-old franchise to its absolute commercial limits. Sure, there's still creative runway, but at some point the large audience craving nostalgia will have had enough. Is “Scream 8” going to be the breaking point?
The good news for "Scream" fans is that Williamson will not be returning for "Scream 8." Instead, the film will be written by sisters Lilla and Nora Zuckerman, fresh off their work on the acclaimed series "Poker Face." They were also set to be the showrunners on Chloé Zhao's now-canceled "Buffy" reboot.
So, what went wrong with "Scream 7"? Anna Camp, one of the film's stars, recently criticized Williamson's script on a podcast, albeit indirectly, saying there was "really nothing there in the script" for character development. Because of that, Camp explained, she had to create much of her character's backstory and emotional motivation herself while preparing for the role.
Williamson wrote the first two "Scream" movies and had directed only one other film in his career ("Teaching Mrs. Tingle"). Twenty-seven years later, "Scream 7" became his sophomore directing effort. His other screenwriting credits include "I Know What You Did Last Summer" (1997), "The Faculty" and "Cursed.
There was a time when many believed Steven Spielberg would direct "Robopocalypse," which tells the story of humanity's desperate last stand against an AI uprising.