Prepare to Scream Again!

Funnily enough, I just re-watched all three “Scream” films this week. I love those films (well, not “Scream 3” so much – that’s a bit of a Frankensteinien effort). They’re so damn smart. And funny. And some of the performances in those films are gold – ridicule me, but I think Matthew Lillard is an absolute doozie in the first film! And Jamie Kennedy has never been better! (Actually, he’s never been tolerable since)

I envision it sucking – hoping it’s not of the “I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer” vein – but look forward to the just-announced “Scream 4”.

This one has been on the drawing board for a while. The Weinstein’s reached out to the original cast and crew (including Wes Craven) a couple of years ago, to see whether they’d return for a fourth film, and although most of them refused to return – the Cox-Arquette team is apparently keen; and why wouldn’t they be? – Bob and Harvey seemingly still think it’s a viable idea.

The real reason behind the sudden addition of “Scream 4” to the Weinstein Schedule, according to a chum of Moviehole (and WC insider), is “That the Weinstein’s have to stick with some sure-things now – they need the money. They’ve tried to do different things, stay away from sequels and so on, but that hasn’t worked. They’ve been in the red for a while. You’ll start to see a lot of sequels and remakes out of TWC over the next couple of years”.

As for Craven returning in some capacity? “He always said it depends on the script. But I’d say no chance”.

I’m assuming that Neve Campbell is sticking to her guns and ruling out a Sydney Prescott return, and that the new film will be headlined by David Arquette and Courteney Cox-Arquette. But then again, the press release stating that “Scream 4” is in the works does state that it’s also a ‘restart’ – so it’s possible we’ll see all new characters this time around.

First thing they need to do : Get Kevin Williamson back to write it.