“Scream 4″ Details From Writer/Director Williamson

Scream more. 

The “Scream” movies were a big hit in the late ’90s because of their affectionate teasing of the horror genre. Now after a long layoff, Kevin Williamson, the director and writer of the original “Scream,” is ready to make a fourth film. He told MTV about his plans for “Scream 4.”

“The fourth one is an ensemble,” Williamson said of his “Scream 4″ script, which is being concurrently written with a fifth script as well. “It’ll take place right now, 10 years later, and it’s going to take place in [Sidney Prescott's hometown of] Woodsboro. We’ll have our three main characters, and we’ll be introducing several more.”

He means that while the film has booked some actors from the original–Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, and David Arquette–but will also include a new, presumably younger group, who Williamson says “will take us through the next three.” 

The snarky, self-referential bit that made the original “Scream” a success is now so common that it would barely raise an ironic eyebrow. So how will Williamson deal with that?

“I guess I’ll just have to be very aware of the fact that we’re a ’4′ and that we’re beating a dead dog. I’m going to make that very apparent in the dialogue…Come on. It’s the age of the remake! And 3-D and all that [other horror fad material], can you imagine what ['Scream' movie-within-a-movie] ‘Stab 10′ is like?”

I was never a huge fan of the “Scream” movies. I’d rather just have a flat out scary horror movie. So I’m not exactly giddy about the return of the franchise. I’m sure others are, though. Here is my favorite line from the MTV article:

“The series made box-office stars out of Neve Campbell, Jamie Kennedy and Skeet Ulrich…”

Really? Excuse me while I go count the box-office smashes those three have starred in outside of “Scream.” Okay, that would be none.