THIS DAY IN HORROR - April 15th
"SCREAM 4" released in 2011
Ten years have passed, and Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) has finally put herself back together, thanks in part to her writing, returns to her hometown of Woodsboro - where it is not long before she is visited by the Ghostface Killer once again, in director Wes Craven's last film, Scream 4!
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After 10-years, Sidney Prescott returns to Woodsboro to promote her new book, Out of Darkness, with her publicist Rebecca Walters (Alison Brie). Unbeknownst to Sidney, the night before - on the fifteenth anniversary of the original Woodsboro murders - high school students Jenny Randall (Aimee Teegarden) and Marnie Cooper (Brittany Robertson) were attacked and brutally murdered by a new Ghostface. Dewey Riley (David Arquette), who is now the sheriff of the town, and his deputies Judy Hicks (Marley Shelton), Anthony Perkins (Anthony Anderson), and Ross Hoss (Adam Brody), caution Sidney to remain in town until the new investigation is completed. Sidney stays with her aunt Kate Roberts (Mary McDonnell), where Sidney's teenage cousin Jill (Emma Roberts), who is dealing with the betrayal of her ex-boyfriend, Trevor Sheldon (Nico Tortorella), gets a threatening phone call from Ghostface herself. Later that night, one of Jill's friends Olivia (Marielle Jaffe), who lives next door to Jill, is attacked and killed by Ghostface as Jill and her best friend Kirby (Hayden Panettiere) watch in horror. Sidney and Jill rush in to save Olivia, but the killer injures them and gets away. Later, when Sidney and Jill are taken to the hospital, Rebecca is attacked and murdered in the hospital's parking lot by Ghostface. Former reporter, and now Dewey's wife, Gale Weathers-Riley (Courteney Cox), soon joins forces with two high school movie fanatics Charlie Walker and Robbie Mercer (Rory Culkin and Erik Knudsen), who explain that the killer is using the rules of movie remakes to commit the new series of murders, and conclude that killer will likely strike at a party being held that night. When Sidney later discovers that Jill has snuck out of the house to attend the party as well, Sidney must once again face off against this new killer - or killers - before another person she loves is murdered!
TRIVIA: Since Emma Roberts was the shortest cast member of the group of teens (standing at 5 feet 2 inches), she had to wear high heeled boots that gave her 3 extra inches to stand as tall as everyone else (the boots can actually be seen near the end of the film). She also had to wear hair extensions since her hair was relatively short before production of the film.
Top: Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) and her cousin Jill (Emma Roberts) must now face a new Ghostface killer;
Above: Sheriff Dewey Riley (David Arquette) and his wife, former reporter Gale Weathers-Riley (Courtney Cox).
Although the Scream series was always intended to be a trilogy, a fourth movie was rumored on and off several times since the release of the third installment. Then, in 2008, Scream 4 was tentatively announced by The Weinstein Company, with an expected release date of 2011. Bob Weinstein and Harvey Weinstein once again turned to Scream-creator Kevin Williamson to draft the new screenplay. After missing a Thanksgiving and a January 4th deadline, Williamson finally delivered the first draft of the script in mid-February 2010. However, Williamson soon clashed with the Weinstein's regarding script changes, who eventually brought in Scream 3 writer Ehren Kruger for rewrites. Among the changes made to Williamson's script was the original opening would have taken place at a party celebrating Sidney's completion of her book, during which Ghostface would have attacked and Sidney would've been badly stabbed (the rest of the film would have then taken place three years later); however, this opening was vetoed by Bob Weinstein, who thought the time jump disrupted the flow of the film. Also removed from the script was the fact that Dewey and Gale had had a baby - but this was changed after it was decided bringing a baby into the film would make shooting "impossible". Additional rewrites were made by Paul Harris Boardman, and, in keeping with Scream tradition, the actors were only given the first 75-pages (of a 140-page script) in order to protect the identity of the Ghostface killer.
In July of 2009, after years of rumors and negotiations, David Arquette and Courteney Cox signed up to reprise their roles as Dewey Riley and Gale Weathers-Riley, while Neve Campbell was confirmed in September 2009. On March 22, 2010, Variety announced that director Wes Craven had officially signed on as director. However, in May 2010, Cathy Konrad, who produced the first three films in the series, filed a $3 million lawsuit against The Weinstein Company, alleging that they violated a written agreement that entitled her company, Cat Entertainment, first rights to produce all films in the series and accused the Weinsteins of surreptitious behavior and "a scheme to force Plaintiffs to walk away from the Scream franchise without compensation," enabling them to cut costs by hiring someone else to produce (it wasn't until a few days before the release of Scream 4 that it was reported that the Weinsteins had settled out of court with Konrad. The details remaining confidential, though it was claimed that she would receive a cash payment plus a percentage of the profits from Scream 4).
In July of 2009, after years of rumors and negotiations, David Arquette and Courteney Cox signed up to reprise their roles as Dewey Riley and Gale Weathers-Riley, while Neve Campbell was confirmed in September 2009. On March 22, 2010, Variety announced that director Wes Craven had officially signed on as director. However, in May 2010, Cathy Konrad, who produced the first three films in the series, filed a $3 million lawsuit against The Weinstein Company, alleging that they violated a written agreement that entitled her company, Cat Entertainment, first rights to produce all films in the series and accused the Weinsteins of surreptitious behavior and "a scheme to force Plaintiffs to walk away from the Scream franchise without compensation," enabling them to cut costs by hiring someone else to produce (it wasn't until a few days before the release of Scream 4 that it was reported that the Weinsteins had settled out of court with Konrad. The details remaining confidential, though it was claimed that she would receive a cash payment plus a percentage of the profits from Scream 4).
[Kirby speaks with Ghostface on the phone, while Charlie is tied to a chair outside her door]
The Voice: I hear you like horror movies, Kirby. But do you like them as much as him? Forget watching Stab, instead you get to live it.
Kirby Reed: No. No, no, no, no. He's the expert. It's not me.
The Voice: Warm up question: Jason's weapon?
Kirby Reed: Uh,it's a machete.
The Voice: There. You see? You do know the genre. Michael Myers?
Kirby Reed: Uh, butcher knife.
The Voice: Leatherface?
Kirby Reed: [crying] Chainsaw! Please!
The Voice: Just ask Sidney if you need some help. Freddy Krueger?
Kirby Reed: Razor-hands.
The Voice: Name the movie that started the slasher craze: Halloween, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Last House on the Left or Psycho?
Kirby Reed: Psycho.
The Voice: None of the above! Peeping Tom, 1960, directed by Michael Powell. First movie to ever put the audience in the killer's POV.
Kirby Reed: Wait. No, no, no. Please, just ask me one more question. Just one more.
The Voice: Alright, Kirby, then it's time for your last chance. Name the remake of the groundbreaking horror movie in which the vill...
Kirby Reed: Halloween, uh, Texas Chainsaw, Dawn of the Dead, The Hills Have Eyes, Amityville Horror, uh, Last House on the Left, Friday the 13th, A Nightmare On Elm Street, My Bloody Valentine, When A Stranger Calls, Prom Night, Black Christmas, House of Wax, The Fog, Piranha. It's one of those, right? Right?
[silence]
Top: Jill's friends - Robbie Mercer (Erik Knudsen), Charlie (Rory Culkin), Olivia (Marielle Jaffe) and Kirby (Hayden Panettiere) - find themselves targets of the new killer;
Above: Dewey and his deputies - Judy Hicks (Marley Shelton), Ross Hoss (Adam Brody) and Anthony Perkins (Anthony Anderson) - find incriminating evidence in the trunk of Sidney's and her publicists, Rebecca Walters (Alison Brie - far left) rental car.
Between June and August, 2010, the remaining cast was assembled with Hayden Panettiere and Rory Culkin, playing teens Kirby Reed and Charlie Walker respectively, being the first to join the film. Twilight star Ashley Greene was originally offered the role of Sidney's cousin, Jill, but the role later went to Emma Roberts. Interestingly, both Scream 4 stars Campbell and Roberts both admitted to being terrified of horror films; Roberts stated she was hid under the covers while watching the first three Scream films, while Campbell stated a while back that she can't watch the films, because she doesn't like being scared! The Hollywood Reporter later reported that Anna Paquin and Kristen Bell would have cameos in the beginning of the film (it was later revealed that their parts were originally written with Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan in mind!), with Shenae Grimes and Lucy Hale also set to briefly appear. As with previous installments, Craven himself was also set to have a small cameo, and later went to Twitter to ask fans to pick his role (sadly, Craven's appearance was cut from the final film). As the production date loomed, the film suffered two casting changes in quick succession; Lake Bell, who had originally been cast as Judy Hicks, was forced to drop out (which she announced via her Twitter account on June 24th 2010) due to "scheduling conflicts" and was replaced by Marley Shelton. And six days later, Lauren Graham, who was originally cast as Kate Roberts, dropped out also citing "scheduling conflicts" as well as "script changes." She was replaced by Mary McDonnell.
On a budget of $40 million, principal photography began on June 28, 2010, shooting in and around Ann Arbor, Michigan. To keep the mood light on set, there was an ongoing prank on set where somebody dressed in the Ghostface mask would jump out and scare an actor at a time when Ghostface wasn't scripted to appear. For example, an actor would open a door expecting nobody to be behind it, and instead somebody in the mask would jump out. On at least one instance, this prank was pulled on an actress during a scene where she was scripted to be chased by a killer, rounded a corner and met an unscripted appearance by Ghostface! With filming completed on September 24, a test screening was held in January, 2011, where Craven and Bob Weinstein found two scenes they felt did not play well for the audience. As a result, actors Aimee Teegarden and Alison Brie returned to Detroit in late January and early February 2011 for four days of additional shooting. The new scenes involved Teegarden's character who is stalked at her home and Brie's character who is attacked in a parking garage.
Scream 4 also extensively used computer-generated imagery for the first time in the franchise, including the use of a "collapsing knife", with the knife's blade being added during post-production with CGI effects. Anthony Anderson's death scene in which he is stabbed in the forehead and walks a few feet while talking before finally falling to his death, was not in the script but was inspired by a "real-life medical emergency" Craven had seen in a documentary about a person being stabbed through their head and walked into an emergency room. He thought it was "extraordinary if somebody was stabbed in the head and still be alive for a while". Craven also did not tell the studio that he was taking this approach for the death scene, jokingly saying he hoped he would not be fired the next day!
Stars Courtney Cox and David Arquette, who were married in 1999 after meeting during the making of Scream (1996), had filed for separation in October of 2010. Although there was slight tension on the set, they were said to have remained professional and respectful of each other. They later divorced in May of 2012.
On a budget of $40 million, principal photography began on June 28, 2010, shooting in and around Ann Arbor, Michigan. To keep the mood light on set, there was an ongoing prank on set where somebody dressed in the Ghostface mask would jump out and scare an actor at a time when Ghostface wasn't scripted to appear. For example, an actor would open a door expecting nobody to be behind it, and instead somebody in the mask would jump out. On at least one instance, this prank was pulled on an actress during a scene where she was scripted to be chased by a killer, rounded a corner and met an unscripted appearance by Ghostface! With filming completed on September 24, a test screening was held in January, 2011, where Craven and Bob Weinstein found two scenes they felt did not play well for the audience. As a result, actors Aimee Teegarden and Alison Brie returned to Detroit in late January and early February 2011 for four days of additional shooting. The new scenes involved Teegarden's character who is stalked at her home and Brie's character who is attacked in a parking garage.
Scream 4 also extensively used computer-generated imagery for the first time in the franchise, including the use of a "collapsing knife", with the knife's blade being added during post-production with CGI effects. Anthony Anderson's death scene in which he is stabbed in the forehead and walks a few feet while talking before finally falling to his death, was not in the script but was inspired by a "real-life medical emergency" Craven had seen in a documentary about a person being stabbed through their head and walked into an emergency room. He thought it was "extraordinary if somebody was stabbed in the head and still be alive for a while". Craven also did not tell the studio that he was taking this approach for the death scene, jokingly saying he hoped he would not be fired the next day!
TRIVIA: The footage from Stab includes the credit "A Robert Rodriguez Film" - Rodriguez really did direct the Stab footage for Scream 4
Top: Director Wes Craven on set with Ghostface;
Above: Craven and stars Courtney Cox and David Arquette "working hard" on set.
Scream 4 was released in 3,305 theaters on 4,400 screens, grossing over $1 million at it's midnight previews, and $19.3 million in its opening weekend; finishing second at the box office. Despite the "disappointing" opening weekend box office (being the second-lowest opening of the Scream franchise), Scream 4 took another $19 million at the US box office, and another $37.3 million from 30 territories; topping the box office in the United Kingdom (taking over £2 million), came in second in France, third in Mexico and fourth in Australia.
The latest installment was also met with mixed to positive reviews from critics, with Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly praising the film, stating "It's a giddy reminder of everything that made Scream such a fresh scream in the first place", while Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times wrote that "Scream 4 finds a way to live up to its gory past while it carves out new terrors in new ways." Roger Ebert, however, gave the film two out of four stars, criticizing the film for using the clichéd formula of the slasher genre, but complimenting Craven's direction and Williamson's dialogue. Lisa Kennedy from the Denver Post stated that Scream 4 "pays plenty of homage to their 1996 original", but that it is not close to its greatness, despite calling it a "cut above most slasher flicks".
In a march 2011 interview, Craven confirmed that he was contracted to work on a fifth and sixth installment of the Scream franchise, to be made if the fourth film achieved a successful release and reception; but further stated that he would need to see a finalized version of a script for Scream 5 before committing to the production, in order to avoid the past difficulties with script rewrites on Scream 2, Scream 3 and Scream 4, often with pages only being ready on the day of filming. However, on June 4, 2012, it was reported that MTV was in the early stages of developing a weekly television series spun off from the franchise, with Craven serving as Executive Producer. In February 2013, the cast announced with Willa Fitzgerald, Bex Taylor-Klaus, Bobby Campo, Connor Weil, Carlson Young and John Karna set to star. The show was filmed in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, between April and July, 2015, premiering June 30th on MTV. The Scream series was well recieved by TV audiences and was quickly renewed for a second season on July, 2015. Sadly, however, original Scream director Wes Craven passed away in his Los Angeles home in August 2015, with the final episode of the first season, "Revelations", being dedicated to his memory.
The latest installment was also met with mixed to positive reviews from critics, with Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly praising the film, stating "It's a giddy reminder of everything that made Scream such a fresh scream in the first place", while Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times wrote that "Scream 4 finds a way to live up to its gory past while it carves out new terrors in new ways." Roger Ebert, however, gave the film two out of four stars, criticizing the film for using the clichéd formula of the slasher genre, but complimenting Craven's direction and Williamson's dialogue. Lisa Kennedy from the Denver Post stated that Scream 4 "pays plenty of homage to their 1996 original", but that it is not close to its greatness, despite calling it a "cut above most slasher flicks".
In a march 2011 interview, Craven confirmed that he was contracted to work on a fifth and sixth installment of the Scream franchise, to be made if the fourth film achieved a successful release and reception; but further stated that he would need to see a finalized version of a script for Scream 5 before committing to the production, in order to avoid the past difficulties with script rewrites on Scream 2, Scream 3 and Scream 4, often with pages only being ready on the day of filming. However, on June 4, 2012, it was reported that MTV was in the early stages of developing a weekly television series spun off from the franchise, with Craven serving as Executive Producer. In February 2013, the cast announced with Willa Fitzgerald, Bex Taylor-Klaus, Bobby Campo, Connor Weil, Carlson Young and John Karna set to star. The show was filmed in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, between April and July, 2015, premiering June 30th on MTV. The Scream series was well recieved by TV audiences and was quickly renewed for a second season on July, 2015. Sadly, however, original Scream director Wes Craven passed away in his Los Angeles home in August 2015, with the final episode of the first season, "Revelations", being dedicated to his memory.
ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE: 59%
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