SCREAM ON With a surprise hit-and shots for more- Wes
Craven pursues a recurring nightmare. Drew Barrymore must be kicking herself.
But when she agreed to be bloodily offed in the opening sequence
of Scream, how could she possibly have known that Wes
Craven’s $14 million homage to the teens-in-peril genre
would chug along to become the little slasher flick that could?
Forget the return of Julia or the Force; Scream has become
the movie story of the year: a $102.6 million-grossing
franchise spawner that has enabled Miramax to cross over rarefild
art house to sequel-happy grind house. Six months after its
opening, not only is the film still doing respectable business in
more than 400 theaters ($181,000 the weekend of June 27-29), but
Craven and Scream’s stars (Neve Campbell, David
Arquette and Courteney Cox, among others) reunited in
Atlanta June 16 to begin shooting Scream 2 Perhaps the
most intriguing aspect of the Scream phenomenon is the
feeding frenzy the sequel has sparked among Hollywood agents, all
of whom are itching to get their rising stars the same hip
exposure that Barrymore, Campbell, Cox, Arquette, and Skeet
Ulrich garnered from the first film. Saya a spokesman for
Ulrich, "The visibility of Scream definitely affected
his career." The jockeying for parts in the sequel was so
cutthroat, says screenwriter Kevin Willamson, that "we
had people come in and audition for the film who don’t
usually audition." Adds Craven: "Everybody wanted to be
in the sequel. We were able to cast bit parts whit big stars."
Consequently, Scream 2 has become a who’s-who list of
up-and-coming Gen-Xers: Jada Pinkett, Sliders’ Jerry
O’Connell, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer's
Sarah Michelle Geller have all been cast. (According to a
Miramax source, rising stars who tried to join but didn’t
make the cut included Lost Highway’2 Natasha
Wagner, Welcome to the Dollhouse’s Eric Mabius,
and Chicago Sons’ Paula Marshall.) Another
sign that Scream has become the project du jour: Craven
& Co. have been upgraded to a $23 million budget, and Miramax
cochairman Bob Weinstein says he’s gunning for a Dec.
12 opening, which would put Scream 2 in the path of such
heavyweights as the next James Bond flick, Tomorrow Never Dies,
and James Cameron’s Titanic, both due Dec. 19.
Says Weinstein confidently, "We already have a built-in
audience for the sequel." But those other films won’t
be the first demons haunt Scream. In the wake of the film’s
unexpected success, rival studios and industry naysayers have
taken aim. Last April, Sony appealed to the MPAA, contending that
the title Scream was too close to the name of its 1996 sci-fi
dud Screamers. The grievance was later settled quietly.
While neither Miramax nor Sony would comment in detail, insiders
say no money changed hands but concessions were made on both
sides in order to allow Craven to use the title Scream 2.
Says the director: "The movies couldn’t be more
different, so it never made sense. This was just part of a power
struggle between Disney (Miramax’s parent company) and Sony."
And there's been industry sniping too. Recently, some number
crunches from rival studios have spoken out and reportedly
claimed that Scream’s $100 million-plus figure may be
inflated by as much as $17 million. A Miramax spokesperson denies
the charge, saying "We’re very proud of the success of
this movie and we stand by our numbers." Of course, the sour
grapes won’t deter Miramax from letting the blood flow like
wine again... and again. Willianson has promised the studio a Scream
3 script by April’98. This does raise the specter of
sequel overkill, the very force that snuffed out the slasher
genre in the late 80’s. (Remember Jason Takes Manhattan?
At least Williamson has a knowing take on that peril "In Scream
2 we do use the line ’Sequels suck’ about
eight times."
by
Chris Nashawaty.
(Additional reporting by Judy Brennan and Pat H. Broesk)
