ZAMM.COM

In the dark pandemic days of mid-January 2022, exhibitors had nothing to shout about except SCREAM.

As COVID raged, they were lucky to have a new episode of the classic horror franchise, which began in 1996 at Miramax’s Dimension Films with Wes Craven’s original SCREAM. The new film was the first episode not directed by Craven (A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET), who died in 2015, and to whom this new SCREAM was dedicated.

SCREAM, from Paramount and Spyglass Media Group, opened Jan. 14, 2022. A sequel to 2011’s SCREAM 4, it was directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin (SCREAM VI) & Tyler Gillett (ABIGAIL) and written by James Vanderbilt & Guy Busick, based on characters created by Kevin Williamson.

Allegations of sexual assault in 2017 against Harvey Weinstein (since convicted and imprisoned) had sidelined The Weinstein Company, which Harvey and his brother, Bob, had launched after selling Miramax in 1993 to  Disney, which sold it to an investor group in 2010. Spyglass later acquired the SCREAM franchise rights by buying a minority position in Miramax, after which it said it would produce a new episode.

Executive producer Williamson said the new film would be a fifth sequel not a reboot or remake, with Bettinelli-Olpin & Gillett directing. Courteney Cox, David Arquette & Neve Campbell returned to star. In the new storyline, it was 25 years after the 1996 Woodsboro murders when another Ghostface is targeting teens linked to the original killings.

Before Craven’s death, there were talks about making SCREAM 5 & 6, but SCREAM 4’s poor boxoffice performance had made Craven, Williamson &  Harvey Weinstein think twice about moving forward. SCREAM 4 had cost $40M, but only did $97.2M worldwide.

Paramount & Spyglass had confidence in a new SCREAM’s potential and got it into production mid-pandemic in North Carolina from September to November 2020. In August 2020, Paramount said SCREAM would open Jan. 14, 2022 rather than in 2021, as first planned. Produced for $24M, it kicked off to $30M, a strong launch at the time, and wound up doing  $137.7M worldwide.

SCREAM’s success spawned another sequel from the same team, SCREAM VI, which got a green light Feb. 3, 2022. That was just three weeks after SCREAM hit theatres. It began production June 6, 2022 in Montreal and opened Mar.10, 2023. SCREAM VI, which had a $35M budget, did a lively $169M globally.

SCREAM VI’s success came despite the absence of Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott and David Arquette as Dewey Riley — although Courteney Cox returned as Gale Weathers. Campbell made it clear that her departure stemmed from a salary dispute with Paramount.

Hollywood, however, loves happy endings, so a new and improved deal was done to bring Campbell back for SCREAM 7 with Williamson directing. It’s scheduled to open in theatres via Paramount starting Feb. 27, 2026.