After successfully reviving the “Scream” series at Paramount, the horror movie team at Radio Silence has signed on to direct and produce a new horror film for Universal, sources at the studio confirmed to TheWrap.
While plot details are being kept secret, Universal says that the project is being developed under the same filmmaker-driven philosophy behind Leigh Whannell’s 2020 remake of “The Invisible Man” and Chris McKay’s upcoming horror-comedy “Renfield.” After the demise of the studio’s short-lived Dark Universe, Universal pivoted to a new strategy of taking on projects based around filmmakers who have fresh takes on their stable of horror icons like Dracula.
Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, the Radio Silence directors behind the past two “Scream” films and the Searchlight film “Ready or Not,” will direct the new project. Their producing partner at Radio Silence, Chad Villella, will produce alongside William Sherak, Paul Neinstein and James Vanderbilt at Project X Entertainment, who were also co-producers of “Scream VI” with Vanderbilt writing the script.
Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett will direct from a script written by Stephen Shields, with revisions by Guy Busick. Jay Polidoro, Holly Goline, Kelly Cannon and Jacqueline Garell are overseeing the project on behalf of the studio.
Radio Silence’s pair of “Scream” films have been two of several box office hits for Paramount since the start of last year, combining to gross nearly $300 million worldwide against a combined production budget of around $50 million. While the films have brought back characters from Wes Craven’s “Scream” films in the late 90s, last month’s “Scream VI” saw significant turnout from audiences under 25 who weren’t even born when the first “Scream” came out in 1996.
Radio Silence is represented by UTA, Brillstein Entertainment Partners and Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole LLP. Shields is represented by Casarotto Ramsay and Associates and UTA. Busick is represented by A3 Artists Agency, The Gotham Group and Jackoway Austen Tyerman Wertheimer Mandelbaum Morris Bernstein Trattner & Klein.
The project was first reported by The Hollywood Reporter.
