The China Mail - I never thought it would be hit, says 'Scream' creator 30 years later

"I never thought it would be a hit actually. I was just trying to get a job. I was just trying to write a script to get noticed by Hollywood so that I get hired to write another movie," he told AFP.

"And I just wrote what I love: I love horror films," he added.

When "Scream" came out in 1996, directed by Wes Craven, it sparked a host of copycat slasher movies and has gone on to become one of the most successful horror franchises in the history of cinema.

The white mask of the Ghostface killer has become a pop culture reference.

The opening scene -- featuring its signature mix of fear and dark humour with Drew Barrymore, the film's biggest star who is killed within 12 minutes -- is considered by many as one of the most memorable openings in the whole genre.

Williamson, who is directing "Scream 7" which comes out this week after a hugely troubled lead-up, took his original inspiration from a real-life serial killer who murdered four students in Florida in 1990.

"I just got so scared that I spawned the show," he explained.

Craven, who also made the cult "Nightmare on Elm Street" films, died in 2015 after working on four Scream films with Williamson.

"When Wes passed, I had sort of said goodbye to the franchise, and thinking it was over for me," Williamson told AFP. "And then when they brought me back into the fold, I got excited again."

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The Scream franchise has been hugely profitable over its three decades, with the exception of Scream 4, grossing an estimated billion dollars or more in total at the box office, according to industry figures.

Williamson was executive producer on the fifth and sixth instalments but is a director for the first time for Scream 7 which became embroiled in a very public off-screen row about the war in Gaza.

Lead actress Melissa Barrera was fired for criticising Israel's devastating bombardment of Gaza, co-star Jenna Ortega walked out, and original director Christopher Landon quit over the ensuing furore.

"The amount of abuse that I had to deal with -- I decided I didn’t want to give any part of myself to that," Landon told Vanity Fair of his decision last year, saying he had been wrongly blamed for the decision to fire Barrera.

Scream 7, stylised as Scream VII, has not been shown to critics and releases in most countries around the world over the next week, landing at a time when horror movies are back in vogue.

"Sinners" and "Weapons" -- both of which Williamson praised -- were some of last year's buzziest hits.

"The horror genre is so cyclical," Williamson added. "We go through cycles and it's usually connected to what's going on in the world. Horror has always been a mirror to society."

- Gaza row -

Scream 7 sees the return of Canadian actress Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott after she opted out of the previous instalment due to a salary dispute.

Campbell believed she had been offered pay that was below what a male actor of her status would command.

But that was nothing compared to the casting problems for Scream 7.

Mexican lead actress Barrera fell afoul of the film's Hollywood producers Spyglass in November 2023 after criticising Israel's "genocide and ethnic cleansing" of encircled Gaza which she likened to a "concentration camp".

Spyglass sacked her, declaring that they had "zero tolerance for antisemitism" and "false references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, Holocaust distortion".

UN experts have since concluded Israel's war amounted to "genocide".

"Wednesday" star Ortega, who played opposite Barrera as one of the Carpenter sisters, left the production in solidarity.

Scream 7 is set to focus on Sidney Prescott as she builds a new life for herself in a small Indiana town -- until Ghostface turns up and begins targeting her daughter (Isabel May).

"There's a wonderful relationship between the mother and daughter, and we really tried to zero in on the emotional horror, like to really make you feel it," Williamson said.

B.Clarke--ThChM