Scream Releases Tribute To Wes Craven

Scream creator Wes Craven passed away in 2015, and for a time, there was an assumption that the franchise was over. Members of the cast publicly expressed doubt that they could be lured back into a Scream without Craven, noting that he was as much mentor and father figure as he was director, and that while projects like A Nightmare on Elm Street had long since fallen to other filmmakers, with Scream, Craven was always there personally. Recently, franchise star Neve Campbell revealed that she came back only after receiving a letter from the new directors -- Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, who are credited professionally as Radio Silence.

In the letter, and in the featurette below, the pair revealed that they fell in love with film because of Craven and Scream. if it was going to be resurrected -- an inevitability in the IP-driven film industry -- why not have it be done by people who were clearly passionate about the original? Later, Campbell's co-star Courteney Cox said she believed Craven would be proud of the new effort.

You can see the tribute below. 

Born in Ohio, Craven earned an undergraduate degree in English and Psychology from Wheaton College in Illinois and a master's degree in Philosophy and Writing from Johns Hopkins University. He became one of the most prominent voices in horror, with a public persona to rival even his own professional accomplishments, and was sometimes compared to the similarly-charismatic Stan Lee.

Some of his other films include The Hills Have Eyes, The Last House on the Left, The Serpent and the Rainbow, The People Under the Stairs, Vampire in Brooklyn, Cursed, Red Eye and My Soul to Take. From a comic book perspective, he helmed 1982's Swamp Thing with Adrienne Barbeau and Ray Wise. In the 2005 documentary film Inside Deep Throat, Craven said that he worked on a number of adult films, including Deep Throat, over the course of his very early career.

Craven's last film project as a director was 2011's Scream 4. He was slated to direct the pilot episode of the MTV version of Scream, but withdrew. He would often make cameos in not only his own films, but sometimes those of other filmmakers (like Kevin Smith's Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back). His final on-screen appearance was in an episode of ABC's Castle in 2013.

Scream is set to hit theaters on January 14, 2022.