Scream Reboot Coming to MTV

Written by Jon Williams

“What’s your favourite scary movie?”

That’s the most iconic line from the 1996 slasher flick Scream, the Wes Craven-helmed sendup of horror movies and their conventions that managed to be pretty creepy in its own right. That film brought in over $100 million at the box office and spawned three further installments. Now the franchise is getting a facelift, with Bob and Harvey Weinstein set to bring a reboot series to MTV. Craven will serve with the Weinsteins as another executive producer alongside showrunner Jill Blotevogel, Marianne Maddalena, and Cathy Konrad.

Wes Craven, of course, is a legend in the horror movie business dating back to 1972’s The Last House on the Left, which he wrote and directed. He did the same on such films as The Hills Have Eyes (1977) and Swamp Thing (1982) before the birth of his most famous creation. In 1984, Freddy Krueger made his debut as the undead, dream-haunting, teen-stalking serial killer of A Nightmare on Elm Street. A number of films and a TV spinoff followed (including a 2010 remake), but Craven was only involved in Dream Warriors and New Nightmare (currently unavailable).

When Scream came out in 1996, it poked fun at the horror genre and updated it at the same time. It flouted conventions by featuring characters that were horror-savvy and aware of the clichés (“Don’t go in there!”), and then by casting well-known actors and actresses to portray those characters. The first film starred Drew Barrymore, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, and Skeet Ulrich, among others. Its success was followed quickly by Scream 2 (1997) and Scream 3 (2000), with Scream 4, the most recent, coming in 2011. All the sequels brought back Campbell, Cox, and Arquette.

Being released in 2011, Scream 4 coincided with a resurgence in popularity for the horror genre. It was originally intended to be the beginning of a new series featuring younger co-stars like Hayden Panettiere and Aimee Teegarden. While it’s unclear how or if the development of the TV series will affect plans for further feature films, it’s certain that the series will feature a younger cast. The pilot episode is set to film this summer; stay tuned for more details, like premiere dates, as they become available.

Of course, it’s not too early to start thinking about your Halloween movie collections. SmartBrowse on our website for plenty more by Wes Craven, and while you’re there, take a look around for plenty more of the horror films your patrons will be Scream-ing for.