In Hollywood’s never-ending quest to reboot every single property they own, a new “Scream” film was inevitable, and Kevin Williamson knew that. He figured, though, that he would at least be asked to be involved, despite the fact he isn’t tied into the rights. “Scream” is his baby, after all. Well, they didn’t, and at first, he was actually fine with that because his director was no longer with us, as he explained to The Hollywood Reporter:
“[Spyglass Media Group] acquired the ‘Scream’ rights, which excluded me. So they didn’t have to use me, and I thought, ‘Well, I don’t want to be involved anyway because Wes isn’t here. How could I possibly do anything?'”
As it happened, though, he was reached out to not by the studio but by co-writer James Vanderbilt, who wasn’t just looking for Williamson’s blessing but to actively have him participate in the new film as an executive producer and the steward of the “Scream” franchise. Though he wasn’t writing the film, he still found he could have quite a bit of creative input on the new “Scream” and found the experience to be a positive one, going on to say:
“And now I’m so happy I said yes. […] I thought, ‘Without Wes, what is “Scream?”‘ But I was so wrong. Radio Silence [Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett, Chad Villella] is awesome, and they’ve become really great friends. The entire team. What I love about the first movie is that it became such a family, and it’s still such a family when I run into the cast around town.”
Kevin Williamson is continuing on in the same role for the upcoming “Scream VI.” I may miss the hands of Wes Craven, but I’m glad Williamson is still in the trenches.
