In the face of hostile reviews, Scream 7 has made more money than expected over the weekend, meaning Scream 8 may begin filming this year. It’s been a stormy few years for the Scream franchise, but for its studio, the tale appears to have a happy ending. In the wake of a troubled production and ... Scream 8 likely to film this autumn as Scream 7 exceeds box office expectations
In the face of hostile reviews, Scream 7 has made more money than expected over the weekend, meaning Scream 8 may begin filming this year.
It’s been a stormy few years for the Scream franchise, but for its studio, the tale appears to have a happy ending. In the wake of a troubled production and grim reviews, Scream 7 has exceeded expectations at the box office on its opening weekend, earning $64m in the US and almost $100m worldwide – a new record for the franchise.
As Paramount and production company Spyglass Media toast that success, Variety reports that plans are already in place for Scream 8, with producer Marianne Maddelena telling the outlet that the sequel could begin filming as soon as this autumn.
Writer-director Kevin Williamson has said he has “lots of ideas” for the eighth chapter in the slasher franchise, and that he and returning star Neve Campbell came up with a concept for that movie while sitting around on the set of Scream 7.
“When you’re sitting on the set at 3 in the morning, you’re like, ‘Well, what would Scream 8 be about?’ And you just start spit-balling,” Williamson told Deadline. “And Neve had this great idea, and everyone seemed to run with it. So yeah, if this movie works and people want it, we’re here for the fans. So, if they want it, we’ll certainly give it to them.”
It’s quite a turn-around for a franchise that, right up until the past weekend, looked as though it was on its last legs. Scream 7's production was famously marred by the departure of two lead actors and its original director – a setback so major that plotlines central to Screams 5 and 6 had to be scrapped, effectively ending a three-film arc without a conclusion.
A replacement script was put together, seemingly in a matter of months, and credited to the franchise’s regular screenwriter Williamson and Gary Busick. Williamson, who’d only directed one little-seen movie before this, was ushered in as director, while Neve Campbell, who’d loudly left the franchise over a pay dispute, was tempted back with a salary of $7m.
Check out Modern Horror Screams, a special podcast covering the entire Scream franchise!
With less than a year to turn the movie around, Scream 7's makers fell back on nostalgia, surrounding Campbell’s returning Sydney Prescott with numerous familiar faces including David Arquette, Matthew Lillard and Courteney Cox.
Despite the resulting movie being the worst in the franchise according to most outlets (including this one), the gambit appears to have worked: horror is a reliable genre at the box office, and Scream is one of the most recognisable franchises in that genre.
Audiences duly turned out for Prescott’s latest fight with Ghostface, negative reviews be damned.
Like its masked killer, the Scream franchise just keeps getting back up again.
