Just as we were getting to love the new Core Four in the re-invigorated Scream franchise, its two main stars have exited the chat leaving producers scratching their heads wondering what to do. They also have to work out who will replace director Chris Landon because he has also left the Scream VII production. So where do we go from here?
It seems that the Instagram account Creepyduckdesign has an idea. It would work logistically, but that doesn’t mean everyone would like it. Let’s face it, the last two entries were good, and they made significant bank, but you might be hard-pressed to find them at the top of anyone’s Scream “best of” lists.
But back to the problem at hand: how to move forward without Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega. And with Neve Campbell considering a return for the right price, how would she fit into it all? What if Scream doubled down on its meta formula and did what Wes Craven’s New Nightmare did for that franchise by having the actors portray themselves? That’s what creepyduckdesign suggested in an Instagram post and, to be honest, the pitch intrigues us.
As with most ideas posted on the internet, people have their opinions. In this case they are likely to be strong because one, they love Wes Craven, and two, they love the series. So let’s break it down into a “pro vs. con” list.
Pros:
The entire original cast could return to reprise their roles. It would solve how to bring Stu (Matthew Lillard) back.
Fan-favorite Stewey (David Arquette) could also return.
The story would be original without messing with canon.
It would be a great homage to Wes Craven since he came up with the New Nightmare concept in the first place to reboot that series.
It adheres to Scream’s commitment to being meta, adding a whole new layer to the concept.
Neve Campbell could return as the lead and get the salary she deserves.
Cons:
We will let the naysayers speak for themselves about the cons from comments taken from the original post. Let’s start with director Chris Landon who was tapped to helm Scream VII: “I hope I die first.” That’s not promising. Let’s see what others have to say.
“That’s literally the whole plot of scream 3”
“I have to be honest: I would hate this SO MUCH. Once you do this, you can never go back. It would be the final nail in Scream’s coffin.”
“That’s too close to scream 3 tho lol”
“They already made a movie within a movie in Scream 2”
But surprisingly, the majority of people who reacted to Creepyduckdesign‘s idea in the comments loved their “super-meta” vision. Some even threw in their own plot ideas:
“How much more meta could that be and the answer is none. None more meta lol”
“And the killer ends up being DREW because she was annoyed she never got to shine in the first one. She eventually snapped because Neve got all the glory and it comes Full circle, it started with Drew it ends With Drew killing them all and walking into the sunset @drewbarrymore”
“your idea might fix this franchise 💯“
Scream (2022) and Scream VI writers Guy Busick and James Vanderbilt must be under a lot of pressure at this point to create a screenplay that will please everyone. But since that is impossible, they are going to have to do the best they can. Since the original Scream (1996) writer Kevin Williamson was the Executive Producer on the last two films, he will certainly be on hand to give his advice and opinions about the next one.
But what do you say? Do you like the idea of Scream VII going super-meta bringing back the originals, or should filmmakers try to figure out how the current timeline progresses without Sam (Barrera) and Tara (Ortega) Carpenter?