Scream Writer Kevin Williamson Developing Shows Based On Rear Window, The Game, And More

Ever since he exploded onto the horror scene in 1996 by revitalizing the slasher flick with his screenplay for "Scream," Kevin Williamson has been one of Hollywood's go-to writer/creators for teen skewing films and television shows — and it all happened so fast. Within a span of three months, Williamson had "I Know What You Did Last Summer" and "Scream 2" tearing up the box office, and "Dawson's Creek" posting impressive Nielsen ratings for the WB.

He's had a couple of brief down periods, but he's never gone completely away (he rode out a rough creative run in the 2010s simply by having "The Vampire Diaries" on the air). Still, it's been a while since his name moved the needle in Hollywood, although his COVID-19 slasher "Sick" from 2022 did pretty well on streaming. But had the Gen X-er who'd connected so palpably with younger viewers for 20-plus years finally lost his touch?

Universal Television doesn't think so, and, according to Deadline, they just signed him to a massive deal to deliver four intriguing new series to the network. Most importantly, they're letting him raid the Universal Pictures library, and he's yanked out two classic titles that underscore his ambition while, uh, leaving me wondering about his storytelling judgment.

Alfred Hitchcock's "Rear Window" is considered by many to be the Master of Suspense's finest film, and, beyond that, maybe the greatest thriller ever made. It's been remade once for television and riffed on countless times, so the durability of its premise — bored, wheelchair-using man snoops on his neighbors in the apartment building across the street and believes he's witnessed a murder — is not in question. It's just, how do you turn a taut thriller like this into a full-blown series?

Williamson evidently thinks he's got this figured out, and he's got his episodic take on Hitch's film set up at Peacock so we'll likely get to see for ourselves. Does his version of Jimmy Stewart's character live next to a building full of psychopaths?

I'm equally puzzled by his decision to develop a series based on David Fincher's "The Game." He's at least got the film's screenwriters, John Brancato and Michael Ferris, but here again we have a story that derived its power and suspense from being set over a tight time frame. Also, the film is a classic because of its ballsy twist ending.

The other two irons Williamson's got in the fire are an adaptation of Ruth Ware's "The It Girl" (about a woman attempting to solve the decades-old murder of a friend), and "The Waterfront," which sounds like a fishing-industry based "Yellowstone" transplanted to Williamson's old North Carolina stomping grounds. Williamson has had his share of TV misfires, but I'd be shocked if he doesn't connect on one of these projects. I just don't think that winner will be "Rear Window" or "The Game."