Scream 4? Maybe even 5 and 6?

Scream 4...apparently there's a good chance that it will be made. Not only that, but a Scream 5 and 6...in other words a second trilogy for the Scream franchise.

Wow...I'm surprised...really surprised!

Before I get into it, here's my thoughts on the Scream films.

*Scream - Directed by Wes Craven, and starring David Arquette, Courtney Cox, Neve Campbell, Jamie Kennedy, and Skeet Ulrich. Whether you love or hate it now...it was a film that DID re-energize the horror film genre. A slasher flick with a brain, that made over $100 million? And even seeing it today, it's a fun flick. It's not too shy with the blood, starting with the now famous scene of Drew Barrymore being terrorized and ultimately slashed up like a fish. I always liked the movie references (maybe not the first to do it, you had Student Bodies from the '80's, among a few others, who poked fun at the slasher genre), including lines like "You're starting to sound like some Wes Carpenter freak" and "If they watched Prom Night, they'd save time. It's a very simple formula, everybody's a suspect!" The cast was young, energetic, and actually fun. I liked Matthew Lillard and Jamie Kennedy the most from the cast, and I was always surprised (when I first saw it) that it was two killers at the end. I don't know why, I guess usually in movies like this it's just one killer (even though it makes sense...how can one guy be seemingly everywhere at once). All in all, a fun flick.

*Scream 2 - I didn't like this as much as the first. Neve Campbell's character, Sidney, goes to college after everything that happened in the first film. Unfortunately (in accordance with a film made from the events of the first flick, called 'Stab') killings start to happen at the college. Pretty much everyone (who lived) from the first flick returns. I do enjoy Jamie Kennedy's character (when he's alive, I'll get to that in a minute), and I loved the 'sequel talk in classroom' and the 'explanation of the rules of sequels' scenes in the flick.
But, I'm not a big fan of this because:
A.) I can't believe Jackie from Roseanne (Laurie Metcalf) as one of the killers...I just can't.
B.) Although I understand the reasoning (making it shocking, and making the audience feel that anyone can be up for grabs), I still didn't like Jamie Kennedy's character of Randy being killed. He was my favorite character, and no one likes seeing their fave character die (and I guess other people felt like that, considering they got him back via a videotape for part 3...and there's even rumors of somehow fitting him in part 4...as what, a ghost? Or is it gonna be like Jigsaw and Randy magically has tons of videos for future endeavors?)
C.) The new characters (like Sidney's friend in college, even Olyphant) didn't do much for me. The only new character I liked was Jerry O'Connell, who also didn't get much to do AND he dies too, which is a shame.
D.) Even at the sequel, the movie just wasn't as humorous as the first flick.
E.) Dewey, the cop character played by David Arquette...is just completely fucking useless. And the sad thing is, I LIKE his character a lot. He's my second favorite (after Randy) and if you think about it he offers nothing to the first or second flicks. He's there to help Sidney...but all he does is gets himself stabbed again (and magically is still alive at the end...again...already repeating yourself Wes?)

Scream 3 - Basically, Hollywood is making a sequel to the 'movie within a movie' Stab. Sidney (Neve Campbell) is in seclusion but is brought back out when there are killings on the set of hte new movie, and pictures of Sidney's mom are being left behind. Many people didn't care for it, and I can't blame them too much. I'll be honest though...I actually liked this more than Scream 2. I liked the cameos of Jay and Silent Bob, David Arquette's Dewey actually has more shit to do, it's always neat to see Josh Pais in a role (playing the partner of Patrick Dempsey's main detective, who's trying to help Sidney out...Pais is the voice and was in the suit of Raphael from the first live action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie), I had fun with Parker Posey's relationship with Courtney Cox (in the film, Posey plays the film version of reporter Gale Weathers, while Cox is the real Gale Weathers), and I enjoyed the location being in Hollywood. But...the ending sucks. The 'relevation' of who the killer is sucks...(wow, it's the film's director who is actually Sidney's long lost brother that she never knew about until now...it's like a damn soap opera plot, and it's just not memorable at all).

By Scream 3, people were tired of the Scream franchise. If you ask most people, they didn't care for part 3 at all (and some hated part 2 as well). Nowadays, even the first one has a bad taste in some people's mouths. Maybe because, like many successful flicks, it spawned a lot of imitators. You had movies like I Know What You Did Last Summer (which had two sequels), Urban Legend (which also got 2 sequels), Valentine, even Disturbing Behavior, The Faculty, and Halloween: H20 (with the usage of a young cast of good looking, "WB" actors).

The movies always fared extremely well at the box office:
Scream - $103 million
Scream 2 - $101 million
Scream 3 - $90 million

Now, the reason I said that I was "really surprised" with the news of Scream 4 - 6 is because of this:

First, is Scream really a viable name? Like I said before, there are a lot of people who now have a distaste of the Scream franchise (because of the two sequels, the imitators, and other stuff). So...I'm not sure if anyone would really care too much for a new Scream film? On the other hand, I was glad that many came out for "Live Free or Die Hard" (a film I very much loved and enjoyed), so I guess anything's possible.

I was even more surprised that, seemingly, writer Kevin Williamson and stars Neve Campbell, David Arquette, and Courtney Cox-Arquette are going to be a part of it. Even Wes Craven looked at the script and said:

"I had dinner with KW last night, and the script sounds fantastic!"

Now of course, KW is Kevin Williamson. And all of these people were so gung-ho for the fact that it was a trilogy...that after Scream 3, they never wanted to do anymore and that it was all tied up, etc.

So...is this a case of "money talks, and bullshit walks!"

Which, now that I think about it...these guys and their careers really haven't gone anywhere since Scream...so maybe it's not much of a surprise...I mean, think about it:

*Wes Craven - Directed Cursed which had a hellacious production of reshoots & re-casting & all sorts of changes + it was tremendously shitty, then he made Red Eye which was like a 65-70 minute boring-ass flick. Both flicks flopped, and oh yeah he wrote Hills Have Eyes 2 (remake) with his son. So...not much

*Kevin Williamson - wrote I Know What You Did Last Summer which was a hit, but wasn't too good of a movie to be honest. He wrote "The Faculty" which was fun, but was a quote "box office flop/disappointment". He wrote and directed "Teaching Mrs. Tingle" (changed from "Killing Mrs. Tingle" because of Columbine) which was a big flop and completely forgotten. He did create "Dawson's Creak" and is now writing "The Vampire Diaries", but he also wrote "Cursed". So...eh, kinda doing better than Craven.

*Neve Campbell - She did movies like "I Really Hate My Job", "Relative Strangers", "Last Call", "Blind Horizon", and others. In other words, films that no one likes or has even fucking heard of...so of course she'll do Scream 4.

*Courtney Cox-Arquette - She was in "3000 Miles to Graceland" which flopped and no one remmebers, she was a voice in "Barnyard", had small roles in "Longest Yard" and "Bedtime Stories", and did 3 or 4 episodes of a few TV shows. Again...not much.

*David Arquette - Wrote and Directed the horror flick "The Tripper", starred in "Ready to Rumble" & "Eight Legged Freaks", and did flicks like "Hamlet 2" and "Riding the Bullet". Again...not much A-Movie stuff.

So...going over what these guys have done since Scream 3...it DOES make more sense as to why they'd want a Scream 4. Although I wondered earlier if people cared about a Scream 4...I am also reminded of the fact that we live in a time where 'name recognition' can get you far. Don't believe me? Then just look at all of these direct-to-DVD sequels like Lost Boys 2: The Tribe, Dirty Dancing 2, Road House 2, Behind Enemy Lines 2 and 3, Art of War 2 and 3, Species 3 and 4, Urban Legend 3, I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer, Wrong Turn 2 and 3...the list just goes on and on.

So if a Scream 4 popped up at your local multi-plex...I think you'd be, at the very least, curious about it.

Honestly...I just don't think it's needed at all. And it does scream (pun not intended) 'money-grab'....or as Benecio Del Toro said in "Traffic" - "It's All About The Money." Honestly, I don't care if they made a Scream 4 but at the same time the idea just sounds stupid, especially on jumping the gun and saying that there could be a part 5 and 6...just like the Saw series do. It just gets irritating when they plan 2 or 3 sequels at a time...although it is funny when they do that and the film bombs/doesn't do as well as they hoped. Thus they didn't make another Chronicles of Riddick movie, or another Emmerich Godzilla film, and the proposed sequels for Rocketeer, Planet of the Apes (remake), and Battlefield Earth never happened.

So, the bottom line is...Scream 4, 5, and 6 sound like a dumb idea to me. Just leave it alone and do something else Wes...hell I'd rather see a Shocker 2 or a People Under the Stairs 2 than this shit.