SCREAM Casting News - Changes and Additions To The New Woodsboro Line Up

For those of you who may not know, the Scream franchise is headed to the small screen for a brand new series on MTV as opposed to a much anticipated Scream 5. I haven't reported too much on it, as I've been hoping that self inflicted ostrich syndrome would make it go away, but alas, it hasn't. News has begun to trickle in at a heavier rate over the past few months, we've learned that Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven hate eachother, so there's no hope that Williamson will have anything to do with the series. We also learned that Williamson not only has a script for a Scream 5, but a Scream 6 as well, as he had written Scream 4 to be the start of a "new trilogy". This information is really just salt in the wound knowing that it will probably never happen as the Weinstein's aren't too keen on working with Williamson again either. 

Regardless, Scream: The Series is happening, and there's been casting news.

Courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter: 

Willa Fitzgerald will star as Emma Duvall, a classic beauty whose looks and popularity hide a natural shyness and intellectual nature. Her new life with the “in crowd” leaves her estranged from her childhood best friend, Audrey. Emma is the lead in MTV’s Scream take and bears a resemblance to Neve Campbell’s tortured high school student Sidney Prescott in the 1996 feature film.

Bex Taylor-Klaus, who has been recurring on The CW’s Arrow as DC Comics character Sin and whose credits also include The Killing and House of Lies,will replace Amy Forsyth in role of Audrey, the daughter of a Lutheran pastor. She’s described as an artsy loner who aspires to be a filmmaker.

Bobby Campo (The Final Destination) will recur as Seth Branson, a hot English teacher at Lakewood High who has an easy charm and is clearly one of the “cool” teachers, who can go with it if a lesson plan gets a little off-track.

Connor Weil (Sharknado) will be a series regular and portray Will Belmont, an all-American high school basketball player who adores his girlfriend, Emma (Fitzgerald).

Joel Gretsch (Witches of East End, V, The 4400) is set as Sheriff Clark Hudson, a good guy and good sheriff who is father to Kieran (Amadeus Serafini). David Arquette famously portrayed the lovable sheriff in Williamson’s features.

Now, I love Arrow, it's currently one of my favorite shows at the moment, but I don't know how I feel about Taylor-Klaus as she plays one of the few "replaceable characters" on the show, in my opinion. We'll have to wait and see. The two factors that come into play the most for me on this one are that there has been talk of bringing a supernatural element into play in the series (if Ghost Face is an actual ghost...) and the fact that Teen Wolf, the current major hit on MTV, is one of the worst shows I've seen in years. It can barely be called horror, it's just... it's bad. 

What do you think? Yay or nay on the Scream front?

It's Official - MTV Moves Forward With SCREAM Series

Sigh. It's official. 

MTV has made an announcement that they are officially moving forward with the Scream series. BD released the plot details this morning, as well as the news that Wes Craven will be directing the pilot this summer. The script was written by Jill Blotevogel. 

The pilot explores a YouTube video that has gone viral and causes problems for the protagonist, Audrey, who is caught in the middle of murder and the town’s troubled past.

I've been fearing that this news would rear it's ugly head at some time or another, and I can't help but feel incredibly disappointed by it. After the fans have been clamoring for months in hopes of getting a Scream 5 as opposed to a series (on MTV, of all stations), it appears that our pleas have fallen on deaf (Weinstein) ears. Thanks for that. 

If you're a fan of Scream and you've watched an episode of Teen Wolf, or even seen a commercial, then you can understand my disappointment with this news. To place such an important horror property into the hands of a network that excels at tearing anything resembling credibility to shreds is very scary. Not to mention that a Scream production is hardly a Scream production without Sydney Prescott, Wes Craven or not. 

We'll just have to wait and see, but I'm scared guys. I'm scared.

HORROR ON TV - MTV Takes Ghostface's Name A Little Too Seriously; SCREAM Series Heads Into Supernatual Territory

 
On Monday I reported that Harvey Weinstein has been trying to get his brother Bob to agree to bring Ghostface back to the big screen for one last hoo-rah before they end the series for good. This would be tremendously exciting, if it weren't for the fact that it's all speculation while the MTV series is well under way. 

Even if we do get to see that beautiful white mug up on the big screen again, what would that mean for the MTV series? According to Harvey Weinstein, nothing. While attending the Zurich Film Festival, he informed audience that there’s no overlap between the series and film franchise. He went on to say that the series “is supposed to represent a new beginning and also pursue a supernatural direction.”

This is exactly what I expected to happen, especially when you take into consideration that the hordes of brain dead teenagers are currently eating up MTV's rendition of Teen Wolf like a fat kid eats cake. But what does Weinstein mean by "supernatural"? Is Ghostface going to be the next indestructible force, ala Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers? Will Ghostface haunt the streets of Woodsboro ala A Nightmare on Elm Street after the adults cover up the grisly past involving Sydney Prescott? What do you think? Sound off below! 

HORROR ON TV - NBC Plans to Revive ROSEMARY'S BABY, MTV Moves Forward with SCREAM

Depending on your stance, this is either wonderful, or very terrible news for the world of horror. Months ago I reported in on the development of a Scream television series that could be headed to MTV. Now, after AMC laid claim to Psycho with Bates Motel (that's actually received raving reviews) and NBC has had mild (if you can even call it that) success with their shotty spin-off of the Hannibal Lecter story, they've decided to set their sights on their next cash cow: Rosemary's Baby. 

There's not much to say yet other that it will be a 4-hour long mini-series that will be set in Paris, as opposed to the historic Dakota in NYC. Scott Abbott will be serving as the writer. 

As far as Scream goes, the last I heard was that Wes Craven was waiting on a script that he would either approve or deny, however MTV has greenlit it anyway so I have no idea what the hell is going on. I do know that Jay Beattie and Dan Dworkin (Criminal Minds) will be writing it. 

So, what are your thoughts on this? I think that Rosemary's Baby could definitely work in mini-series format, but MTV tackling Scream? Everything about the idea of it makes me want to do just that, scream. 

- Rg Lovecraft
 

MORE TV NEWS: MTV to Produce Scream TV Series?

Here’s one for you all to try on for size, because I’d love to hear your thoughts about it. A couple weeks ago, I heard that Wes Craven was approached by MTV, who had recently greenlit a Scream pilot. This made my skin immediately crawl, my stomach turn and I haven’t really changed my opinion since then.

Yesterday, Wes Craven released his response via Twitter: “A lot of you have asked about the Scream TV series. It’s true I’ve been approached. My response was, it would depend on the script… If they have a great script/concept, it could be fun. If not, not.” 

This gives me hope, as MTV’s track record shows that they’re probably going to produce a shite script, but if they somehow manage to rope in Kevin Williamson it could possibly work. What are your thoughts? Yay or nay? Will MTV be able to do Ghostface justice?

-Rg Lovecraft