June 3, 2012 08:01 PM PDT

Exclusive: MTV Developing Scream TV Series

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Michael Ausiello

Ghostface is taking his reign of terror to the small screen.

MTV is developing a weekly series based on the Scream film franchise, sources confirm to TVLine exclusively.

Former MTV execs Tony DiSanto and Liz Gateley, who are shepherding the project under their DiGa production shingle, are on the hunt for a writer to pen the pilot.

It’s unclear what role, if any, Scream auteurs Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven will have in the potential series.

The four Scream flicks have brought in $500 million globally, although the most recent pic — last year’s Scream 4 — grossed a paltry $40 million domestically.

Reality-obsessed MTV has found success on the scripted side with hits Teen Wolf and Awkward.

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Tags: MTV, Scream

Comments (53)

Huge Scream fan. Minuscule fan of this idea.
Comment by j2tiger – June 3, 2012 08:02 PM PDT Reply To This Post
- Agreed.
  Comment by tripoli – June 3, 2012 11:06 PM PDT Reply To This Post
  - Well they can start the series with a few fake scares and maybe kill one person every few epsidoes until it gets close to the end of the season and they start to drop like flies. Or they could do it like Harper’s Island style with a cast of about 25 people, one dying each week and one being the killer. Anything horror-related in terms of tv shows are winners for me. I loved Harpers Island, 13 The Fear Is Real and Estate of Panic.
    Comment by Brendan – June 3, 2012 11:55 PM PDT Reply To This Post
- Me too.
  Comment by justin121 – June 4, 2012 08:30 AM PDT Reply To This Post
- Agreed. Loved the last Scream, hope Hayden will be in part 5 as rumors have reported. Bummed no KW though.
  Comment by lorna – June 4, 2012 11:24 AM PDT Reply To This Post
  - PLEASE REPLY Has it been confirmed that there’s a Scream 5? And (SPOILER if you haven’t seen Scream 4) didn’t Hayden like, die? And what’s that about no KW (Kevin Wlliamson?)? PLEASE REPLY
    Comment by justin121 – June 5, 2012 08:53 AM PDT Reply To This Post
    - she did “die”, but the rumors says she’s alive because you never seen her actually dead, like all the other victims, that’s why plus in SCRE4M there are some scenes that proves that maybe kirby is alive
      Comment by Ivan R Muñoz – June 5, 2012 11:42 AM PDT Reply To This Post
      - Thanks for replying. My biggest pet peeve about Scre4m was that “the death party group” was way too small. Like 4 people. More importantly, IS THERE A SCREAM 5? Plz say yes.
        Comment by justin121 – June 5, 2012 12:12 PM PDT
- Same.
  Comment by ryanandhobbes – June 4, 2012 12:45 PM PDT Reply To This Post
Nearly everyone dies in all the Scream movies. That’s going to be hard to do on a weekly basis. Unless you undergo A LOT of cast changes.
Comment by Nick – June 3, 2012 08:04 PM PDT Reply To This Post
- It could work like Harper’s Island however, that was a mini series. Don’t see how this would work in a full-scale television series unless it’s an anthology series like American Horror Story or the protagonist is the only one to survive every season and they just re-fill the cast each year. They could make it like a cop show about a team of detectives tracking the ghost face killer and intercut it with Scream-like scenes of his killings but that won’t really feel like a Scream show. Whatever they do, I’d hope they make it really meta like the movies and have characters say stuff like “a horror show would never work on television!”
  Comment by guest – June 4, 2012 06:29 AM PDT Reply To This Post
  - Harper’s Island was also a massive failure.
    Comment by r0ckmypants – June 4, 2012 09:51 AM PDT Reply To This Post
    - psh i loved harper’s island!!
      Comment by lauren – June 4, 2012 11:29 AM PDT Reply To This Post
      - i think you might have been the only one. very few people actually liked it.
        Comment by Elizabeth – June 5, 2012 12:57 PM PDT
This is why we can’t have nice things….
Comment by Joey C. (@Joey_C523) – June 3, 2012 08:05 PM PDT Reply To This Post
No.
Comment by lafergs – June 3, 2012 08:05 PM PDT Reply To This Post
I love the movies, why MTV WHY?
Comment by maya – June 3, 2012 08:05 PM PDT Reply To This Post
I hope it’ll be good! I’m a huge fan of the film series. Actually have a good plot to it and all…
Comment by Cory – June 3, 2012 08:07 PM PDT Reply To This Post
I will definitely watch this! Could be a great pairing with Teen Wolf!
Comment by Tvaddict – June 3, 2012 08:07 PM PDT Reply To This Post
- If it is half as good as Teen Wolf then I’ll check it out.
  Comment by Russ – June 3, 2012 08:23 PM PDT Reply To This Post
I’d be good with this if it was like Harper’s Island.
Comment by taylorrness – June 3, 2012 08:09 PM PDT Reply To This Post
- I think I’d have to agree. I really enjoyed Harper’s Island and could see some potential if the Scream series was in a similar vein of story telling.
  Comment by tripoli – June 3, 2012 11:09 PM PDT Reply To This Post
- Agreed.
  Comment by Sally – June 4, 2012 06:26 AM PDT Reply To This Post
Kevin Williamson or no deal.
Comment by Mike – June 3, 2012 08:13 PM PDT Reply To This Post
- I agree 100% with you. He’s the only one that might be able to make this work.
  Comment by alyssa – June 3, 2012 08:25 PM PDT Reply To This Post
- Completely agree
  Comment by Ed – June 3, 2012 08:45 PM PDT Reply To This Post
Kevin williamson must do this. I’d rather see a scream 5 that gets a good release date — like a december release date.
Comment by kelly – June 3, 2012 08:15 PM PDT Reply To This Post
No. Just no.
Comment by xxkraitxx – June 3, 2012 08:18 PM PDT Reply To This Post
I’m a HUGE fan of the Scream movies; kind of obsessed, actually. And I’m completely frightened by this idea, and not in a good way. I just don’t see how it could work, unless it only lasted one season in a Harper’s Island-esque way. There’s no way you could keep killing off characters and drag out finding out who Ghostface is for longer than one season. If this does make it to air, I will definitely give it a chance, but I don’t have any high hopes.
Knowing MTV, they’ll probably ruin it like they did with Teen Wolf.
Comment by alyssa – June 3, 2012 08:24 PM PDT Reply To This Post
Basically this is what American Horror Story should have been, 13 episode season where the cast is whiddled down one by one till we get a revealed killer.
Comment by John – June 3, 2012 08:25 PM PDT Reply To This Post
- Like Harper’s Island
  Comment by lcm27 – June 3, 2012 09:37 PM PDT Reply To This Post
- @John Umm, yeah. That IS what American Horror Story did in most aspects. AHS basically took note from Harper’s Island and put it’s own spin on it.
  
  And why would you want AHS or Scream to have one season where everyone gets killed off and then the murderer(s)? We had that already, it was called HARPER’S ISLAND.
  Comment by J.K. – June 4, 2012 02:30 AM PDT Reply To This Post
Definitely in! They can do a “Harper’s Island” type thing, where someone gets killed off each week, big mystery builds until the finale, then a new killer next season. Love this!
Comment by I Heart Chuck Bass (and Damon Salvatore) – June 3, 2012 08:27 PM PDT Reply To This Post
Oh my god, I am beyond interested in this idea. However… Isn’t Tony the guy who approved The Hills? Awkward silence.
Comment by Brett Staffen (@brettstaffen) – June 3, 2012 08:37 PM PDT Reply To This Post
- Even a broken clock is right twice a day!
  Comment by I Heart Chuck Bass (and Damon Salvatore) – June 3, 2012 08:45 PM PDT Reply To This Post
I think it sounds good, but not sure how many seasons this idea can last unless each season is a new plot and cast.
Comment by fernando rodriguez (@Fernanaberry) – June 3, 2012 09:11 PM PDT Reply To This Post
I’ve actually been hoping for a television version of Scream for a while. I just want Kevin Williamson involved.
Comment by Rolfe – June 3, 2012 09:22 PM PDT Reply To This Post
I was sort of excited until I read MTV.
Comment by lcm27 – June 3, 2012 09:38 PM PDT Reply To This Post
- MTV has actually been good with scripted tv show lately. Teen wolf and Awkward. and some of my favorite shows on tv. it just gets a bad wrap cause of Jersey Shore and other reality tv shows.
  Comment by Russ – June 3, 2012 09:43 PM PDT Reply To This Post
I can totally see David Arquette doing this (What else does he have?)
What that means for the relationship with Gail…. Well not good.
Comment by Keenan – June 3, 2012 11:29 PM PDT Reply To This Post
As a huge Scream fan back in the 90s, I did appreciate the 4th movie as it nicely paid hommage to the original one and somewhat erased the disappointment that Scream 3 had been in 2000. But I think that there shouldn’t be any form of continuation for the next few years. Maybe they could reboot/remake Scream with a new cast in let’s say 10 years from now… As for a TV series so shortly after Scream 4? Well, no thanks. Plus I don’t see how they could handle the Scream concept on a weekly basis… Harper’s Island tried to do this and it didn’t really work… Let the Scream saga to rest for a while…
Comment by jdscissorhands – June 4, 2012 12:30 AM PDT Reply To This Post
Don’t ruin the Scream series MTV it wont work!!! Please don’t associate the three main cast members in this series don’t mess up the mythology!!!
Comment by JC – June 4, 2012 12:34 AM PDT Reply To This Post
Here’s the main thing scream 4 flopped because of a crap release date for a horror also it had been gone for a long time and the newer generation wernt as well known to the franchise to rush to see it, like me a giant scream fan. The new generation is my biggest problem here, if this sucks new generations will automatically assume the scream franchise sucks tarnishing its reputation. Also without williamson as we know with scream 3 the satrical side of scream comes across goofy like scooby doo without a good smart writer.
Comment by Seb – June 4, 2012 01:40 AM PDT Reply To This Post
No! Without Neve Campbell, et all ESPECIALLY Kevin there is no Scream! If MTV wants a companion for Teen Wolf then they should pick up The Secret Circle!
Comment by Kymberly – June 4, 2012 03:33 AM PDT Reply To This Post
I LOVED this franchise (well, except Scream 3), and I think it had a perfect coda with Scream 4.
So at least I hope they won’t use any of the original characters. I’d prefer if they’d use the Stab movies instead, but I know Scream as a title sells more.
Comment by Mr.Floppy – June 4, 2012 07:20 AM PDT Reply To This Post
I do NOT like this idea at all. Hopefully, the Weinstein Co. will shut this down. I’d still like Scream 5 and 6 to be made (as the fourth was supposed to kick off a new and final trilogy to the series) even if they’re not as successful as the earlier films at the box office.
Comment by Andrew – June 4, 2012 07:33 AM PDT Reply To This Post
I love this idea..im definitely a SCREAM fan..and I think MTV could make this work..MTV can be edgy and this is the perfect show to do that with.
Comment by Jared – June 4, 2012 08:47 AM PDT Reply To This Post
IF it were going to be a tv show, I think it would really only work on Showtime or HBO. I know AHS got away with some grisly deaths, but I don’t see Scream working on MTV. And I’m sure it would just ruin the movie series, which is so classic (even the awful Scream 3)
Comment by Mikael – June 4, 2012 09:15 AM PDT Reply To This Post
NOOOOOO! DO not ruin my favorite horror franchise by bringing it to tv!
Comment by sarah – June 4, 2012 09:35 AM PDT Reply To This Post
Just add “Scream 4″ to the original films and make it a quadrology–or whatever this would be called. The writer could establish his own take on the film series by creating his own characters and make them the stars of a new trilogy or something.
Comment by Me – June 4, 2012 10:30 AM PDT Reply To This Post
After the high quality of “Teen Wolf,” I am definitely willing to check out new scripted entries from MTV. However, the big thing is how will they make this work? If they use the same format as “Harper’s Island,” all I ask is that the acting and characterization be better than that series. There should be little clues all along that will allow us to pick up on who the killer is, instead of having him come out of the blue and totally off the walls.
Comment by MaryAnn – June 4, 2012 10:53 AM PDT Reply To This Post
They could do it where every season is like a new movie fallowing one person or a small group of people. Just like a movie but drawn out. The first episode would be like the opening of the movies, a big shock then introduce the cast then Evey episode some one dies then the last episode ofbthe season the killer is revealed. I’m just worried its going to be lame where ghostface sounds nothing like he dose in the movie and that we won’t get any more of the old characters. They tried something kinda like this with Charlie’s Angeles and it was a big disaster. Or it could be like teen wolf and actually be worth watching… Oh and what would the rules be? There’s no rules for a horror TV show.
Comment by jake – June 5, 2012 11:36 AM PDT Reply To This Post
COME ON MTV! seriously!? i mean this can be whether really good or really bad, with the right writers it could be amazing, but i’m not sure about it, i mean they are playing with one of the biggest horror franchises of all the time, it would loose all what scream movies stand for, i mean i’m a huge fan of the franchise i don’t know hot to feel about it, i really don’t see how the are gonna adapt the movie, it could be some kind of harpers island thing, or it would be what happened with Jill Roberts after the SCRE4M, anyway i think it would be a million times better a scream 5 than the tv show
Comment by Ivan R Muñoz – June 5, 2012 11:51 AM PDT Reply To This Post

Exclusive: MTV Developing Scream TV Series

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