Michael Kennedy is a massive fan of the Scream franchise, and in recent years he has had the opportunity to write some of his own slasher movies. First was the body swap slasher Freaky, which was directed by Christopher Landon. Coming to theatres this Friday, November 10th, is the “It’s a Wonderful Life with a masked maniac” slasher It’s a Wonderful Knife… and while Kennedy was working with director Tyler MacIntyre on It’s a Wonderful Knife, his friend and Freaky collaborator Christopher Landon secured the job of directing Scream 7 – which has led some fans to speculate that Kennedy might end up working on the Scream 7 script. The speculation picked up steam when Kennedy shared a picture of him sharing a meal with Landon and Scream (2022) and Scream VI directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett. But during a recent conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, Kennedy said he’s not writing Scream 7 – nor has he been able to convince Blumhouse Productions to move forward with a crossover between two separate Landon slashers, Freaky and Happy Death Day. A crossover he likes to call Freaky Death Day.
When asked if he has given his two cents on Scream 7 yet, Kennedy said, “Not yet, but I will if they let me read the script. I mean, I talk about Scream constantly with Chris. We’re working on some other stuff together right now, so it does come up every once in a while. I’ll toss a little nugget out there, blindly, not knowing what the story is about, but Chris has got a really good poker face.“
Kennedy was then asked for his opinion on the idea of going meta with a Scream sequel, or of bring Matthew Lillard back as his character from the original film. In response to the meta question, Kennedy said, “It’s one of those ideas that is so clever that you can really only do it once, and I feel like Wes [Craven] and New Nightmare nailed it. I love that movie. So I feel like you’re already starting down a point by just doing it in another way. If another franchise did it, Scream is probably the most likely one, but I think you’d have to find a really solid story, because it could easily become one-note. A lot of people also wanted a Jason [Friday the 13th] movie set in the snow, but when you ask their reasoning, they’ll say, “ Blood on the snow looks cool.” And it’s like, “Well, what’s the next step after that?” So that’s kind of how I feel about Scream doing that super meta version. It’s like, “What’s the step after everybody playing themselves? What is actually happening?” And I can never think of a good enough reason to have Neve Campbell playing Neve Campbell.“
As for Matthew Lillard reprising the role of Stu Macher: “I think he should remain dead. I know that these slasher movies play with logic and that I go in, saying, “I’m going to turn my brain off a little bit and not be so stuck on making sure everything tracks,” but he’s such an iconic character. Wanting more of somebody is a good thing, but sometimes, wanting more and not getting it is a good thing, too. He’s so good in the first movie, and I just don’t think that there’s a reason to bring him back. If you can find a clever way to bring him back where his character is still dead, I’m all for that, but it would just feel weird to me that no one mentioned that Stu was still alive the last 27 years, or that his body was never found. I’ve heard people pitch the idea that his family faked his death or stole a body, and I just don’t know how you justify it. I also don’t think Stu was a mastermind. Billy Loomis was the mastermind. But I do love Matthew Lillard, and if they found a way to do it, then sure, why not?“
And here’s what he had to say about Freaky Death Day: “It’s one of those things that I wish happened. The pandemic messed up so many lives and then stupid things like movies. But the summer before [Freaky] came out, the idea clicked in my head, and I sent a text to a couple of the folks at Blumhouse and Chris. And the reaction was pretty funny. Everyone was like, “Oh my God, interesting.” So I literally sent an email with the subject of just Freaky Death Day, and then it had a two-sentence pitch. And there was a moment where it felt like, “Okay, maybe this could be something in the future.” But then the pandemic continued, and Freaky didn’t really pop in theaters, because you couldn’t go to a theater and that kind of stuff. So, financially, it just doesn’t make sense for a lot of people right now, but every once in a while, I think about it. I can’t help it. I want to see it so badly. I saw a meme the other day with Jessica Rothe (from Happy Death Day), Kathryn Newton (from Freaky), Kiernan Shipka (from Totally Killer) and Jane Widdop (from It’s a Wonderful Knife) all stacked on top of each other, and it was like, “There’s no way you can tell me that these characters don’t exist in the same world.” And funnily enough, three of them are owned by one company. So I don’t know. Maybe there’s a Totally Killer Freaky Death Day or something down the line. (Laughs.) There’s something there that I always wanted to do. I hate to say the Marvel of slashers, but there’s something interesting about a bunch of different “final girls” hooking up and having to fight the same thing.“
Freaky Death Day is one of two potential Happy Death Day projects that Blumhouse is sitting on, as Landon has also been hoping to get Happy Death Day 3 made.
Would you like to see Freaky Death Day go into production? What do you think of the idea of Kennedy getting to work on Scream 7? Share your thoughts on these projects by leaving a comment below.