The 1997 horror movie almost directed Robert Rodriguez: “I don’t know if anyone knows that”
Let’s be clear, $7,000 is not a lot of money to make a movie.
That’s how much Robert Rodriguez had in his pocket when he set out to bring his debut feature film to the big screen. Not only did he manage to make this happen, but the film he made was also El Mariachi, a bona fide cult classic. This launched Rodriguez into the stratosphere and began a career that has made him a legendary figure in the realms of bloody, violent cinema.
By the time 1997 rolled around, Rodriguez had four films under his belt: El Mariachi, Four Rooms, Desperado, and From Dusk till Dawn. He was beginning to get noticed by those in the know, and an offer came through that could have changed his entire career.
During an interview with Screen Rant, scriptwriter Kevin Williamson confirmed the long-standing rumour that Rodriguez had been approached to direct the second instalment in the Scream franchise. “I don’t know if anyone knows that,” he said.
“I think Wes [Craven] was hesitant about doing a sequel,” he added. “He was worried that he had other opportunities, and I think he was worried about getting trapped into Scream. But then, of course, he didn’t want to leave it, so he came back. But we talked to Robert about it, and he was up to do it.”
The first Scream film had been released one year prior and had been a huge hit for Craven. The story of a group of teenagers being pursued by the now-iconic Ghostface killer, the film cleverly poked fun at horror movie conventions and even made a few nods towards famous figures from the genre in its character names. However, there was a real chance that the movie would become a victim of its own success.
Part of why Scream is so much fun is the way it makes fun of how formulaic horror films had become by the mid-1990s. Craven, who had played a large part in creating said formula, even inserted himself into the film via a cameo as ‘Fred the janitor’, a not-so-subtle nod to Freddy Krueger and the Nightmare on Elm Street series. The problem was that the first film had made a lot of money, so now there was pressure for a sequel. By satirising the foibles of the modern horror genre, Craven had unexpectedly walked into a trap.
Ultimately, Craven decided to stay and make Scream 2. The film pokes fun at the clichés of horror movie sequels and once again received rave reviews. Its financial success ensured that Scream was now a full-on franchise. Craven returned to direct the next two instalments, while the series was rebooted in 2022, seven years after the director’s death. Unfortunately, the series has existed for so long now that it has become the very thing that it set out to mock.
As for Rodriguez, he used his newfound spare time to make the 1998 sci-fi horror The Faculty. Also written by Williamson, the film follows a group of high school students who discover that their teachers have been replaced by aliens. It was a moderate hit, but it’s fascinating to think what a Rodriguez-led version of Scream 2 would have looked like.
