Series Creator Kevin Williamson Has Big Praise For Scream 6: 'Wes Craven Would Be So Happy'

It certainly seems like "Scream VI" will be a sister film of sorts to "Scream 2" once unleashed into theaters on March 10, 2023. Released in December of 1997, the sequel to Wes Craven's original meta-slasher blockbuster came out less than a year after "Scream" breathed new life into the horror genre. The sequel also took Sidney Prescott and the rest of the survivors out of the small-town comfort of Woodsboro High School, and transferred them all to Windsor College in Ohio, placing them all in an entirely new setting. Similarly, "Scream VI" hits screens just over a year after "Scream" (2022) and takes the four survivors (Melissa Barrera, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding, and Jenna Ortega) from the fifth installment on an adventure in New York City. 

For a franchise that's waited over a decade in between entries twice before, with "Scream 4" and "Scream" (2022), the rapid-fire release strategy for this new Ghostface era is both exciting and a little worrisome. Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett have appeased fans who were concerned about a "Scream" installment without Wes Craven at the helm, and hopefully, the rush to deliver a follow-up hasn't undermined the series as a whole. While currently promoting his riveting new Covid-era slasher film "Sick" directed by John Hyams, original screenwriter Kevin Williamson continues to heap praise on "Scream VI," assuring Craven loyalists that the late master of horror would absolutely approve of the new direction the franchise is taking.

Just as a quick refresher, Kevin Williamson has been responsible for multiple cultural touchstones in the late '90s and early aughts, including "Scream," "I Know What You Did Last Summer" (that also has a legacy sequel on the way), "Dawson's Creek," and the underrated thriller "Teaching Mrs. Tingle" starring Katie Holmes and Helen Mirren. It would also be very remiss of me not to mention the incredibly horny werewolf romp, "Cursed," that reteamed Williamson with Wes Craven, to decidedly mixed results. 

Williamson almost single-handedly revived the horror genre, bringing mainstream audiences back in droves. His new film "Sick" also proves that he's still one of the most exciting screenwriters working today. After already calling "Scream VI" more of a reinvention than a retread, Williamson recently told Rolling Stone that he's over the moon for the new installment: 

"I love the rebirth of 'Scream.' I've seen 'Scream VI' probably five times now, and it's great. I'm sworn to secrecy on that one, but I'm so thrilled with it. They ask me my opinion and I give it. I watched it with my partner who isn't even a big 'Scream' fan and he goes, 'Sh*t. This is good.'"

In all transparency, Williamson is a producer on these new films and definitely has a financial stake in seeing them continue to be successful. But he certainly doesn't have to watch "Scream VI" that many times if he sincerely doesn't approve of the direction that Olpin, Gilletts, and screenwriters James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick, are taking. This is a very good sign and should get diehard fans on board to see what kind of mayhem Ghostface can drum up on the streets of Manhattan (and hopefully the outer boroughs as well). 

Granted, it's impossible to know how Wes Craven would feel about Ghostface conquering NYC. After directing Eddie Murphy in "Vampire in Brooklyn," it's quite possible that Craven would be quite content to never set foot in the Big Apple again. However, the original cast signed onto "Scream" (2022) for a reason. Last year's return to Woodsboro was an unequivocal love letter to the legendary filmmaker, and "Scream VI" literally features a shrine displaying artifacts and memorabilia from Craven's original trilogy. 

So, it's not hard to imagine that Craven would, at the very least, appreciate the homage and the sincere sentiment that was readily apparent in last year's requel. Continuing what is becoming a very long list, "Scream" (2022) introduced the new rules of a requel, and we can all expect to learn a few new rules when the direct sequel to the requel comes out over Spring Break 2023 next month. 

Judging by Williamson's comments to Rolling Stone, it sounds like there are still a few tweaks left in the post-production process, but everything seen in the newly released Super Bowl trailer should appear in the finished film. "When I saw the last edit I told them, 'Wes Craven would be so happy,'" Williamson promised. In all likelihood, the clever tagline "New York, new rules" will probably end up on a few T-shirts for Chinatown tourists down on Canal street (my old hood). From all accounts so far, it sounds like Craven would approve of the latest additions to the survivors' rulebook. 

"Scream VI" is set to arrive in theaters in the United States on March 10, 2023.