'Scream' writer Kevin Williamson opens up about 'Scream 4' rewrites and the future of the franchise

It's been a bumpy road, but "Scream 4" will finally hit theaters on April 15th.

Zap2it was the first to tell you that a script for the fourth installment in the franchise had been turned over from series creator Kevin Williamson, to "Scream 3" writer Ehren Kruger back in July. The report sparked major debate over what was really going on in Woodsboro.  


After much speculation on what may or may not have gone down during production, Williamson is now opening up and telling his side of the story. In his recount, we hear about the battle with Bob Weinstein and how "The Vampire Diaries" factors in to all this.

"Oh, I got in a big fight with Bob. God love him," Williamson tells EW. "I've worked with the man for 16 years out of my 16-year career. We get in some fights. We're a very dysfunctional family over there at the Weinstein Co. We got into a massive fight creatively and we hugged it out and then we moved on."

Despite supposedly hugging it out, Williamson admits that the two haven't spoken since. He still insists that Weinstein is over their tussle, saying "Oh come one, it's Bob. It's fine!"

As for what the fight was about, the writer blames passionate personalities with contractual obligations as the final straw.

"The one thing that Bob and I connect on very basically, why we've worked successfully together for 16 years, is we're passionate," he explains. "And it is that passion that allows you to make a movie where he will believe in you and trust in you and it's also that passion that can cause fights and cause struggle."

Continuing, "For 16 years, he's kept me gainfully employed. I love him. Yes, we got into the fight, but then the big clincher came: Contractually, I had signed on to do 'The Vampire Diaries.' You know, the little thing called first and second position? I was in first position to do 'Vampire Diaries' and second position to do 'Scream 4.' So guess what? It was a contractual thing. Warner Bros called up and they said, "Dude where are you? You have a show that's on the air -- where are you?" I did double duty as much as I could but 'The Vampire Diaries' was also very important to me."

And for that, we're sure "Vampire Diaries" fans thank him. Even after all the drama, Williamson still holds a soft spot in his heart for "Scream 4" and is (thankfully) open to continuing the story.

"Scream is so special to me I'm never going to disavow it," he says. "The reality is I did I worked very hard on the film. I did my darndnest to try and make a really good movie. I gave it my all. I wrote everything I thought I could write. Then they had to film it and I had to get back to 'The Vampire Diaries.' So I think I really contributed. I hope it all turns out! My fingers are crossed!"

As for "Scream 5": "If people really respond to the film, then yes, there are more twists and turns," he teases.

Zap2it spoke with Emma Roberts and Hayden Panettiere back in March and got their perspectives on the ever changing script.