Despite mixed reviews, Scream 7 is giving the box office a much-needed jolt after several weeks of dismal returns. At one point, the slasher sequel, directed by Kevin Williamson, could have been different if Radio Silence directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett had remained a part of the franchise. Thankfully, the filmmaking duo is feeling chatty now that Scream 7 is playing in theaters, and they’re ready to tease their ideas, had they taken a stab at another bloody whodunit for the fan-favorite series.
Radio Silence Talk Scream 7
“We never read a draft of any version of Scream 7 that we were going to do because we had left to do Abigail before that,” Bettinelli-Olpin tells Entertainment Weekly, while referring to their 2024 vampire ballerina movie. “The thing that we had in our minds for Scream 7 was sort of like, ‘How hard can we go with this?’ It was the thing that we talked a lot about. For us, it was always this idea of, [if] Scream VI is like a secret feel-good movie, Scream 7‘s going to f— you up. That was as much as we ever got to.”
It doesn’t sound like Radio Silence got too deep into the weeds with Scream 7, as they were busy making Abigail, a fun horror film that doesn’t get enough love. I suppose that’s a good thing, as time spent on a project they would eventually abandon would have kept them from working on one of my most anticipated horror films of this year, Ready or Not: Here I Come.
How Far Did Radio Silence Get on Scream 7?
“Given that we expanded the sort of scope of the story by going to New York,” Gillet adds, “the other thing that we had talked about — just Matt and I, by the way, it wasn’t a conversation with the writers — was, ‘How do you do the opposite for 7?’ Like, shrink it down and make it this like ultra-contained, almost continuous, like minute-to-minute thing. But outside of our own stupid idea, we weren’t privy to any plan beyond just, ‘There’s gonna be another one.’”
Scream 7 welcomes Kevin Williamson, the original screenwriter of the Scream movies, back to the fold to direct and write the latest film in the franchise. Looking at reactions online, many Scream fans are loving the new chapter, while critics remain divided. Our own Tyler Nichols says Scream 7 has the worst final act in the franchise’s history. Now, I’ve not seen the movie yet, so I don’t know if I agree, but I’ve never found Scream finales to be all that exciting. It’s more about the thrill of the hunt for me, and wondering about who the killer (or killers) could be, not who they actually are. I plan to check Scream 7 out as soon as I get some time away from my desk. Hopefully, the end won’t get spoiled before I make it to the theater.
