Has the time arrived for the Scream franchise to make a comeback? With Friday the 13th being remade, and torture porn possibly on its way out of fashion, maybe we’re ready to see a funnier take on horror again. At least, it seems the Weinstein Company are betting on it—they’re currently reading script proposals for a potential Scream 4, according to Moviehole.
Now, as Moviehole’s source is very careful to point out, that doesn’t mean the whole thing will be back in action within a few months. “There is nothing in the works more so than there was 8 years ago,” the anonymous source tells them. Kevin Williamson, the creator of the series, says he has no choice in the matter—the Weinstein Company owns all the rights. But the source says he and the Weinstein brothers are on board to do a new one, if only the star of the first three films would jump on board. “Neve [Campbell] herself is the holdout. They feel there is no franchise without her and that they will wait for her to come around.”
Maybe I just have a bad memory—OK, I definitely have a bad memory—but I barely even remember Neve Campbell being in the movies. To me the appeal was always the weird villains, the ubiquitous scary mask, and, weirdly enough, David Arquette (don’t ask me why). It’s been so long since the last Scream movie that today’s target audience of teenagers probably barely remembers them. Why not just start again with some new up-and-comer? Neve Campbell, I’m sure, has outgrown running away from knife-wielding maniacs, and kids these days might not see her as an appeal even if they remember her from the earlier movies.
Oooh, I’ve got it. Make Scream 4, and have it start the exact same way Scream did—girl alone at home, making popcorn. Then put Neve Campbell in the Drew Barrymore role! The people old enough to be in on the joke will love it, and the kids will have the pants scared off of them. Hey, if you’re making a sequel to a movie that’s all about in-jokes, you may as well keep having fun, right?
