The franchise-best success of Scream 7 all but assures that Ghostface will be back in some way, shape, or form. Who will be the main victim? Which character will be behind the mask? And what will be their motivation? We don’t know. What we do know is that one person in particular won’t be back: Scream 7 director Kevin Williamson.
In a new interview with Scream fan site Hello Sidney, the man who wrote three of the franchise’s first four films and returned to direct this seventh one said he would not be back for an 8th Scream. “It’s nice to be part of the Scream family. That doesn’t mean I always have to be front and center,” Williamson said. “I don’t always have to write or direct… other people can take the reins.”
Of course, Williamson wasn’t even supposed to direct this one. He got roped in by star Neve Campbell when she herself was roped back into the franchise after missing the sixth installment over a contract dispute. Once Spyglass fired Scream 5 and 6 star Melissa Barrera, the film’s first director, Christopher Landon, dropped out, making Campbell’s return a necessity. (She reportedly got paid $7 million for it.) From there, Campbell herself contacted Williamson to ask him to direct. And the rest is Scream box office history.
So who will direct an eighth Scream? And when might we get official confirmation on it? You have to imagine producers are already working behind the scenes with Scream 7 passing $150 million worldwide in just a few weeks, despite the franchise’s worst reviews in history. io9 was among those bad reviews, but we’ll still be first in line to see Ghostface return. Surprises like that are what Scream is all about, and Williamson’s return and exit both qualify as that.
Who is your dream director for Scream 8? Should it be aware of everyone’s favorite inside joke, Stab 8? Let us know below.
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