Scream Creator Kevin Williamson Nixes Any Chance He'll Direct Scream 8

Scream 7 crawled over broken glass to make it to theaters — cast shake-ups, director musical chairs, the works — but it finally landed. Reactions are split. The opening weekend set a franchise record. The second weekend fell off a cliff, which usually means the chatter leaving the theater was... not glowing. Still, I do not see a version of reality where the studio skips Scream 8.

So what about Scream 8?

There were already whispers about an eighth movie before 7 even opened, and producer Marianne Maddalena has floated that cameras could roll as soon as this fall. The wrinkle: Kevin Williamson isn’t planning to direct it.

Williamson — who wrote the original Scream — directed Scream 7 from a screenplay by Guy Busick (he co-wrote Scream 2022 and Scream VI), built from a story Busick developed with his partner on those films, James Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt is also a producer on the recent sequels. Williamson did enough on the new script to share a 'screenplay by' credit with Busick.

Before release, Williamson said he had a lot of ideas for where to take the next one and sounded game to keep going if audiences showed up:

'If this film is successful and there’s an audience for it, you know we’ll make it because 1, I think the studio would like to make it, and 2, we the people who make these movies would love to make it because... they’re a blast to make and they’re so much fun.'

Now that Scream 7 is out, he’s pumping the brakes on being the guy in the chair for 8. He wants to finally direct another feature he wrote that’s been waiting in the wings, and he’s juggling a couple TV shows he might step behind the camera on. He isn’t abandoning Ghostface, just handing off the baton:

'I think the next Scream I’ll probably step back... I don’t always have to write or direct — other people can take the reins.'

• The studio has momentum after that record-breaking opening, even with the week-two drop. Scream 8 feels inevitable.
• If fall is the target, the director hunt needs to start, like, yesterday.
• Expect a shuffle in the creative team. Williamson will stay in the family but not front and center on this one.
• He still has ideas for where it could go, but he’s curious to see what a fresh storyteller does with the formula.

My read: new blood behind the camera, same masked problem for the characters. The discourse will roll on, but the math says Ghostface isn’t hanging up the knife anytime soon. Who should direct Scream 8?