Scream 2
Scream 2 | |
---|---|
Directed by | Wes Craven |
Written by | Kevin Williamson |
Based on | Characters by Kevin Williamson |
Produced by |
|
Starring | |
Cinematography | Peter Deming |
Edited by | Patrick Lussier |
Music by | Marco Beltrami |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Dimension Films |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 120 minutes[2] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $24 million[3] |
Box office | $172 million[3] |
Scream 2 is a 1997 American slasher film directed by Wes Craven and written by Kevin Williamson. It stars David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jamie Kennedy, Laurie Metcalf, Jerry O'Connell, Elise Neal, Timothy Olyphant, Jada Pinkett, and Liev Schreiber. A sequel to Scream (1996), the film was released on December 12, 1997, by Dimension Films as the second installment in the Scream film series. Scream 2 takes place one year after the first film and again follows the character of Sidney Prescott (Campbell), along with other survivors of the Woodsboro massacre, at the fictional Windsor College in Ohio where they are targeted by a copycat killer using the guise of Ghostface. Like its predecessor, Scream 2 combines the violence of the slasher genre with elements of comedy, satire and "whodunit" mystery while satirizing the cliché of film sequels.
Williamson provided a five-page outline for a sequel to Scream when auctioning his original script, hoping to entice bidders with the potential of buying a franchise. Following a successful test screening of Scream and the film's financial and critical success, Dimension moved forward with the sequel while Scream was still in theaters, with the principal cast all returning to star, Craven to direct and Beltrami to provide music. The film faced controversy following its significant issues with plot information leaking onto the Internet, revealing the identity of the killers. Combined with the film's rushed schedule, the script was rewritten often; pages were sometimes completed on the day of filming.
Despite these issues, Scream 2 earned $172 million at the box office, only $683,362 less than Scream, and received positive reviews from critics. Beltrami received positive critical reception for his score for evolving the musical themes of the characters created in Scream, although some critics claimed that the most memorable pieces from the film were created by composers Danny Elfman and Hans Zimmer. Elfman's contribution had been specially written for the film, but Zimmer's score for Broken Arrow (1996) was controversially used in the film, replacing Beltrami's own work. The film's soundtrack achieved moderate sales success, reaching number 50 on the Billboard 200. It was followed by several additional sequels, starting with Scream 3 (2000).
Plot
Two Windsor College seniors, Maureen Evans and Phil Stevens, attend a sneak preview of Stab, a
The news media, including local journalist Debbie Salt, descend on Windsor College where
That evening, Sidney and Hallie attend a party at the
As night falls over the campus, Dewey and Gale go to a building to review tapes of footage shot by Joel, hoping to spot the killer in the vicinity of the previous crime scenes, but Ghostface attacks them, stabbing Dewey. Two officers drive Sidney and Hallie to a safe house, but Ghostface intercepts the car and murders them. In the ensuing struggle, Ghostface is knocked unconscious, but recovers and kills Hallie. Drawn to music playing in the campus theatre while seeking safety, Sidney finds Derek in the auditorium tied to a cross from an earlier fraternity hazing ritual. Ghostface arrives, revealing himself as Mickey, and shoots Derek, killing him.
Mickey reveals he intends to kill Sidney and allow himself to be arrested, so he can blame movie violence for the murders. Debbie arrives, holding Gale at gunpoint, and is revealed to be Mickey's accomplice, whom Sidney recognizes as Nancy Loomis, the mother of Woodsboro killer Billy. Nancy betrays Mickey and shoots him, affirming that she only used Mickey to frame him for their killing spree. Mickey fires his gun before collapsing, wounding Gale, who falls offstage. Nancy reveals she is seeking revenge against Sidney for killing Billy and that she killed Randy in Joel's news van for criticizing Billy. However, Sidney points out the hypocrisy of her motives, considering that Nancy's abandonment fueled her son's psychotic tendencies. The pair fight until Cotton appears and holds them at gunpoint. Nancy attempts to manipulate Cotton into murdering Sidney, reminding him that her testimony got him arrested, but to her shock, he instead chooses to shoot Nancy in exchange for an interview with Sidney and Diane Sawyer. As Sidney, Cotton, and a recovered Gale look at Nancy's body, Mickey suddenly resurfaces but is killed by Gale and Sidney. Sidney then shoots Nancy in the head to ensure she is dead.
When the police arrive, Dewey is revealed to still be alive and Gale climbs into the ambulance with him rather than taking the opportunity to report to the returning Joel. Sidney then instructs the press to direct questions to Cotton to remove attention from herself and reward Cotton for helping her.
Cast
- David Arquette as Dewey Riley
- Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott
- Courteney Cox as Gale Weathers
- Sarah Michelle Gellar as Cici Cooper
- Jamie Kennedy as Randy Meeks
- Laurie Metcalf as Debbie Salt
- Elise Neal as Hallie McDaniel
- Jerry O'Connell as Derek Feldman
- Timothy Olyphant as Mickey Altieri
- Jada Pinkett as Maureen Evans
- Liev Schreiber as Cotton Weary
- Lewis Arquette as Louis Hartley
- Duane Martin as Joel
- Rebecca Gayheart as Lois
- Portia de Rossi as Murphy
- Omar Epps as Phil Stevens
- Heather Graham as herself as Casey Becker (character in the in-universe film Stab)
- Ghostface
- Josh Jackson as film class guy #1
- Marisol Nichols as Dawnie
- Nancy O'Dell as Tori's interviewer
- Tori Spelling as herself and as Sidney Prescott (character in the in-universe film Stab)
- Billy Loomis(character in the in-universe film Stab)
- David Warner as Gus Gold
Production
Writing
While writing the script for Scream, Williamson also developed two five-page treatments for potential sequels. Following the release of Scream, Williamson would confirm that he had considered a sequel concept where the character of Sidney Prescott would now be attending college and a
To avoid another such incident and prevent sensitive plot details being revealed through other means, the actors were not given the last pages of the script until weeks before shooting and the pages that revealed the killer's identity were only provided on the day the scene was shot to the actors involved.[4] The short production schedule on Scream 2 and his work on other projects meant that Williamson's final script used for the film was detailed in some areas but lacking in others, with Wes Craven forced to write and develop certain scenes as they were being filmed.[7]
The incident was the first in which a film was significantly affected by an Internet leak.[8] In 2017, Williamson claimed the leaked script was a "dummy draft" that was crafted specifically to avoid leaked details.[9] Williamson claimed there were three dummy endings written.
"They were worried the killer's identity would be leaked, so we wrote several endings. Three in all, if memory serves, and when actors and potential crew members asked to read the script, we would send the script with the dummy ending ... There was even a fake ending where Dewey was the killer. They existed as a decoy and nothing more. Extreme measures, but we really wanted to keep the killer's identity a secret!"[9]
Development
Williamson had been contracted for two potential sequels to Scream when selling the script for the original, based on five-page proposals he attached to the script, hoping to entice prospective buyers with the fact that they were not just buying a film but a franchise,
The production of the film suffered a significant setback when the script was leaked, revealing plot details including the identity of the killers, resulting in the script being modified to change many details.[6] In an interview, Craven commented on the rushed six-month production schedule, with the film being expected ready for release on December 12, less than a year after the release of Scream, and Williamson forced to rewrite his script, pages for scenes would often only be ready on the day of filming and others lacked significant detail that forced Craven to develop them as the scenes took place.[7] Various titles were considered for the sequel at different points in the film's production, including Scream Again, Scream Louder and Scream: The Sequel before the studio decided to simply use Scream 2.[12]
Casting
Having finalized the returning principal cast from Scream, the production approached their casting for Scream 2 in a similar manner, seeking established and popular actors, largely sourcing from TV shows of the time. In interviews, the production staff of the film remarked that they found approaching and securing the talent they wanted significantly easier than it had been for Scream, considering the financial and critical success of the film but also believing the prior involvement of Drew Barrymore had lent the horror genre an element of credibility which made serious actors eager to become involved.[4]
New cast included
The cast was rounded out by
Filming
Following a script leak early into filming, security around the production was significantly increased, with a focus on closed
Post-production
Craven had difficulties passing Scream through the film-rating body
Eager to avoid the same experience on Scream 2, Craven attempted to manipulate the MPAA by sending them a version of the film that had been edited to focus on and enhance the gore and violence present beyond what they actually wanted in the film, including reusing a clip of Omar Epps' character Phil Stevens being stabbed in the ear three times, instead of only once as seen in the final film, and an extended scene of Randy Meeks' death that showed his throat being slashed. Craven's reasoning was that the parts of the film they wished to keep would be more acceptable when viewed with the enhanced violence and so the MPAA would force them to remove the footage they already did not want to keep while passing the content they did want. However, the MPAA granted Scream 2 an R-rating for the more violent cut, as they believed the underlying message of the film was significant enough to warrant the violence.[17]
Music
Marco Beltrami returned to helm the score for Scream 2, though there would be a late inclusion by Danny Elfman in the form of the choral track "Cassandra Aria" which plays during a scene where Campbell's character performs in a play and again in the film's finale as "Cassandra Aria Reprise". Excerpts from the score of the 1996 film Broken Arrow by Hans Zimmer appeared in the film, in particular guitar work by Duane Eddy, for the character Dewey, replacing the tracks that had been developed for the character from the original Scream score. Beltrami would explain in an interview that the Zimmer piece was used as a placeholder for Beltrami's incomplete score during a test screening. The test audience reaction to it influenced the studio to keep the Zimmer piece, reducing "Dewey's Theme", which Beltrami had composed to fill its place, to minor use during more serious scenes involving the character.[18][24] In 1998, Varèse Sarabande released a 30-minute album with music from Scream and Scream 2, and in 2016 Scream 2: The Deluxe Edition was released including the Elfman material and the complete Beltrami score.
Release
Scream 2 held its
Box office
Scream 2 opened in 2,663 theaters and took $32.9 million on its opening weekend in box-office receipts, a $27 million increase over Scream. It went on to gross $101.4 million in the United States and $71 million in other territories with a worldwide lifetime gross of $172.4 million. Its debut set the December opening weekend record until December 2000, being replaced by What Women Want (2000).[26][7][27] It also achieved the highest December weekend gross for two weeks until it was overtaken by Titanic.[28] Scream 2 enjoyed financial success on par with Scream despite its rapid production time and issues with script rewrites, nearly matching the first film's total gross of $173 million.[29] Scream 2 is currently the third highest-grossing film in the slasher genre, again behind Scream.[30] Scream 2 was the 21st highest-grossing film of 1997 despite competition from blockbuster films such as Titanic and Men in Black.[31]
Critical reception
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 82% based on 84 reviews, with an average rating of 6.9/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "As with the first film, Scream 2 is a gleeful takedown of scary movie conventions that manages to poke fun at terrible horror sequels without falling victim to the same fate."[32] On Metacritic, the film received a weighted average score of 63 out of 100 based on 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[33] On CinemaScore, audiences gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[34]
Both
There was, however, criticism over the death of the character Randy Meeks played by Kennedy. John Muir, author of Wes Craven: The Art of Horror called the character's death the "most devastating moment of the sequel" and a "bad call", but praised the development of the other surviving characters from Scream, calling Cox, Arquette and Campbell's characters "beloved".[12] In contrast, Muir criticized all of the new characters in Scream 2, believing they never attained the same depth of the Scream cast because of Scream 2's focus on increasing the body count and violence over the original, saying that the film's killer could literally be anyone, as the audience is never provided with enough information about the new characters to form an opinion about them.[12] Ebert also commented upon this, saying "there is no way to guess who's doing the killing, and everyone who seems suspicious is (almost) sure to be innocent".[36]
Accolades
Scream 2 won few awards compared to its predecessor, with Campbell again receiving the most nominations and wins, having won two awards for Scream. She received a
Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1998 | Saturn Awards | Best Actress | Neve Campbell | Nominated |
Best Horror Film | Scream 2 | Nominated | ||
Best Supporting Actress | Courteney Cox | Nominated | ||
MTV Movie Awards | Best Female Performance
|
Neve Campbell | Won |
Home media
Scream 2 was released in US territories on
Scream 2 remained unreleased in foreign territories including Europe and Japan until February 26, 2001, when it was released simultaneously with Scream and Scream 3 by Buena Vista Home Entertainment.[citation needed] Each film contained the additional content found in the Collector's Edition version of the US release, including deleted scenes, outtakes, theatrical trailers, music videos and commentary from each respective film's crew.[44][45][46] Additionally, the three films were collected together in a single pack as the "Scream Trilogy".[47]
Scream 2 was released individually and in a collection with Scream and Scream 3 on
See also
Notes
References
- ^ a b "Scream 2". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Archived from the original on September 15, 2016. Retrieved March 9, 2016.
- ^ "Scream 2 (18)". British Board of Film Classification. February 2, 1998. Archived from the original on August 4, 2020. Retrieved October 16, 2016.
- ^ a b "Scream 2 (1997)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on January 16, 2021. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
- ^ a b c d e Shapiro, Marc (January 1998). "Super-Secret Scream 2". Fangoria. No. 169. pp. 20–25, 82.
- ^ Williamson, Kevin (1997). "Scream 2 screenplay by Kevin Williamson". Internet Movie Script Database. Archived from the original on April 18, 2005. Retrieved March 15, 2011.
- ^ a b c "Scream 2 rewritten after script leak". April 30, 2010. Archived from the original on December 6, 2012. Retrieved March 15, 2011.
- ^ a b c Spelling, Ian (April 1998). "Wes Craven Screams Again". Fangoria. No. 171. Starlog Group Inc. pp. 24–28.
- ^ "Local Man Makes National News with 'Scream Comes Home' Event". exploreVenango.com. July 31, 2018. Archived from the original on October 28, 2021. Retrieved October 13, 2021.
- ^ a b Mullins, Travis (December 12, 2017). "Exclusive: Scream 2's Jerry O'Connell and Kevin Williamson Talk Leaked Scripts and Different Killers!". Dread Central. Archived from the original on December 13, 2017. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
- ^ a b Diana Rico (October 31, 2001). E! A True Hollywood Story: Scream (Television production). United States: E! Entertainment Television.
- ^ a b Garcia, Chris (March 1997). "One Last Scream". Fangoria. No. 160. pp. 20–23.
- ^ ISBN 0-7864-1923-7.
- ^ a b Spelling, Ian (May 1997). "Scream and Scream Again". Fangoria. No. 162. pp. 66–68.
- ^ Fleming, Michael (May 22, 1997). "Branagh booked for Woody's pic". Variety. Archived from the original on January 26, 2022. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
- ^ Nashawaty, Chris (July 11, 1997). "Scream goes on". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on January 26, 2022. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
- ^ "How I Got Cast in SCREAM 2 | Ep. 2 - Jamie Kennedy's Hate to Break It to Ya Podcast (Solo)". YouTube.
- ^ a b c Wes Craven (September 26, 2000). Behind the 'Scream' documentary from Ultimate Scream Collection (DVD). United States: Dimension Home Video.
- ^ a b c d e f Wes Craven (Director) (December 12, 1997). Scream 2 - Commentary by Wes Craven, Patrick Lussier & Marianne Maddalena (DVD). United States: Dimension Films. Archived from the original on August 3, 2018. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
- ^ "Sequel Opportunity: 8 of the Fastest Follow-Ups in Film History". Yahoo!. July 18, 2014. Archived from the original on January 23, 2019. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
- ^ a b c Reeves, Tony. "Scream 2 film locations". The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations. Archived from the original on May 28, 2011. Retrieved April 4, 2011.
- ^ "Everyone loves a healthy debate". Atlanta. September 2007. p. 56.
- ^ Friday, Rachel Scott (October 27, 2010). "Is the NC-17 rating ruining the Oscars?". The Guardian. Archived from the original on September 20, 2013. Retrieved April 13, 2011.
- The Biography ChannelVideo.
- ^ "An Evening with Marco Beltrami on the Phone". BSOSpirit News. Archived from the original on March 10, 2012. Retrieved March 21, 2011.
- ^ Wayne, Gary (2011). "Locations of Hollywood Movie Premieres". Archived from the original on April 8, 2011. Retrieved April 4, 2011.
- ^ "Top Opening Weekends by Month". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on March 2, 2011. Retrieved March 25, 2011.
- ^ "Scream (1996)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on July 7, 2019. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
- ^ "Horror - Slasher". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on March 2, 2011. Retrieved March 22, 2011.
- ^ "Scream 2 (1997)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on August 23, 2019. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
- ^ "Scream 2". Rotten Tomatoes. December 12, 1997. Archived from the original on January 26, 2022. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
- ^ "Scream 2". Metacritic. Archived from the original on December 19, 2007. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
- ^ "CinemaScore". CinemaScore. Archived from the original on February 17, 2015. Retrieved June 4, 2017.
- ^ Maslin, Janet (December 12, 1997). "FILM REVIEW; Help! He's Back! Run! Shriek! Tempt Fate!". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 16, 2012. Retrieved April 16, 2011.
- ^ a b Ebert, Roger (December 12, 1997). "Scream 2". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on October 12, 2012. Retrieved April 17, 2011 – via RogerEbert.com.
- ^ Adams, Derek. "Scream 2 (1997)". Time Out. Archived from the original on October 18, 2012. Retrieved April 17, 2011.
- ^ Leonard, Klady (December 7, 1997). "Scream 2". Variety. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved April 18, 2011.
- ^ Newman, Kim. "Scream 2 (1997)". Empire. Archived from the original on October 20, 2012. Retrieved April 17, 2011.
- ^ "1998 MTV Movie Awards". MTV. Archived from the original on January 26, 2015. Retrieved March 14, 2011.
- ^ "Ninteenth [sic] Annual RAZZIE® Awards (for 1997)". Golden Raspberry Awards. March 22, 1998. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved April 16, 2011.
- ASIN 6305089957.
- ^ "Scream 2". AllMovie. Archived from the original on November 12, 2010. Retrieved April 2, 2011.
- ^ "Scream Region 2". AllMovie. Archived from the original on May 29, 2009. Retrieved April 2, 2011.
- ^ "Scream 2 Region 2". AllMovie. Archived from the original on January 1, 2013. Retrieved April 2, 2011.
- ^ "Scream 3 Region 2". AllMovie. Archived from the original on January 2, 2013. Retrieved April 2, 2011.
- ^ "Scream Trilogy Region 2". AllMovie. Retrieved April 2, 2011.[permanent dead link]
- ^ S., Brian (March 2, 2011). "Lionsgate to Officially release the SCREAM Trilogy on Blu-ray!". GeekTyrant. Retrieved April 2, 2011.
- ^ "Scream 2 Drops On 4K Blu-ray With a 25th Anniversary SteelBook Edition". Horror. Archived from the original on July 21, 2022. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
External links
- Official website
- Scream 2 at IMDb
- Scream 2 at AllMovie
- Scream 2 at Box Office Mojo
- Scream 2 at Rotten Tomatoes