Courteney Cox has expressed interest in directing the upcoming eighth instalment of the Scream franchise, saying her long association with the horror series gives her a strong understanding of its world.
“I think I should, honestly,” Cox, 62, told Deadline at the Toronto International Film Festival on Saturday, September 12. “Nobody knows more about that movie than I do.”
Cox is the only actor to have appeared on screen in all seven Scream films. She made her debut as journalist Gale Weathers in the original 1996 movie and most recently reprised the role in Scream 7.
The actress was asked whether she would consider directing a future sequel while attending the TIFF premiere of her latest directorial project, Evil Genius.
The Friends star acknowledged that several other people also have extensive knowledge of the franchise, including its creator, writers and late director Wes Craven.
“But I think it’d be great and fun, and it’d be a good publicity thing,” she said of directing the next film. “Get on it!”
Deadline reported in March that sisters Lilla and Nora Zuckerman had signed on to write the eighth Scream movie. The pair are known for their work on television series including Poker Face, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Suits.
A director and cast for the sequel have not yet been announced. The development was reported a month after Scream 7 premiered in cinemas.
Cox attended TIFF for the premiere of Evil Genius, her second feature-length directorial project after the 2014 film Just Before I Go.
She directed and co-produced Evil Genius, which is based on the 2003 “pizza bomber” case and stars Patricia Arquette and David Harbour.
Speaking to People at the festival, Cox explained how her experience in front of the camera influences her approach behind it.
“I understand actors,” she said while speaking alongside Arquette and Harbour. “I feel like I know what I like to be directed, how I like to be [directed], when I want to get a note, what kind of note.”
“Sometimes you get really dumb notes and you’re like, ‘Oh my God.’ You want to go crazy,” she added.
Cox said she gave Arquette and Harbour space to make their own creative decisions, stepping in only when necessary.
“With these two incredible actors, I would let them do whatever they wanted to do. It was always the best choices,” she said. “There’s no point in trying just to be heard. You step in when you need to when you have such talents like these two.”
In Evil Genius, Harbour portrays Brian Wells, a pizza deliveryman who died during a bank robbery near Erie, Pennsylvania, in 2003.
The case prompted an FBI investigation that uncovered a complicated robbery and murder plot. Before his death, Wells maintained that he was innocent and claimed he had been forced to enter the bank and demand $250,000 in cash.
Source: Khaleej Times