The Writer of ‘Scream’ Is Getting Back in the Feature Film Business With Miramax

By William Dass

Kevin Williamson has found a new arrangement at an old home.

One of my all-time favorite horror flicks is Scream. It’s the first movie my wife and I saw together in the theater. It’s also a masterpiece of filmmaking. The film holds many special places in my heart. So I am excited about the news that Kevin Williamson, who wrote that movie, has signed onto a partnership with Miramax to help rebuild their genre selections.

Back in the day, Dimension Films was owned by Miramax. They made and released genre films, mostly horror movies. There was Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth. Stuart Gordon’s Fortress. The Crow. The Prophecy. Highlander III: The Sorcerer. They also released several Jackie Chan and Jet Li films in the US in the ’90s, including Fist of Legend and Supercop. Dimension made the Williamson-penned movies The Faculty and Teaching Mrs. Tingle, which he also directed.

Dimension Films was eventually sold and Miramax (which was founded by Harvey and Bob Weinstein, who left the company in the early 2000s) slowly got out of the business of creating movies. But last year, Miramax’s new owners hired District 9 executive producer Bill Block to get them back into the feature film market.

Deadline uses the clunky terminology “develop elevated genre” to describe the deal. I’m a genre-film loving, die-hard, indie dork. I get it. But, the first thing I thought of was that line at the end of Pretty Woman where the happy businessman says, “Mr. Lewis and I are going to build ships together. Great big ships!” I kid.

Still, it’s an exciting deal. And, it’s some of the fruit of Block’s goal of edging back out into producing content.

Scream is one of my favorite horror franchises. It’s also number nine on our list of the 50 Best Horror Movies Ever. Williamson played a major role in those films, as both writer and executive producer. He later created more than half a dozen television shows, including Dawson’s Creek. He understands what it means to create and produce engaging genre content.

“I’m thrilled to be partnering with Bill Block and to be back in the feature space working with new filmmakers in the genre I love so much.”

I’m excited by that “new filmmakers” caveat. I’m hopeful that Miramax works to bring a host of new and diverse voices to the fold to make some great small to mid-budget genre features. Yes, Williamson is an old-hand at this. And, it does feel as though they are trying to recapture the company’s youthful space in the genre film game. I hope they’re successful.

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