By LOUIS B. HOBSON --
NEW YORK -- The screams were heard around the world to the tune of $200 million.
Next to Pulp Fiction, Wes Craven's teen horror fright-fest Scream is the top-grossing movie from Hollywood's hottest independent film company, Miramax Pictures.
It took less than six months for the cameras to start rolling on Scream 2.
Miramax wanted the sequel to be ready for the same holiday slot its predecessor occupied last year. Scream 2 opens today with Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, David Arquette and Jamie Kennedy reprising their roles.
Jada Pinkett, Omar Epps, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Heather Graham, Jerry O'Connell and Laurie Metcalf are among the stars who join in.
"It was like giving birth to a baby. We delivered Scream 2 in just under nine months, and that included getting the script, casting and shooting," says Craven.
Getting a script didn't prove a major problem because Kevin Williamson, who created Scream, had written a five-page sequel treatment before he'd sold Scream to Miramax.
Nor was it a problem getting original cast members back. They'd all had such a blast working on Scream, they were eager to reunite and actors were lining up, or at least having their agents line up, to get on board. The real problem was keeping the plot of Scream 2 a secret.
"Scream 2 is essentially a murder mystery. It's vital that the audiences don't know who the new killer or killers are," says Craven. "The first 40 pages of our script turned up on the Internet the day after we got them."
This called for drastic measures.
"All the cast members had to sign confidentiality agreements and we had the remainder of the script printed on a special brown paper that can't be photocopied."
Craven had one more trick up his sleeve.
"We didn't tell anyone who absolutely did not have to know the identity of the killer or killers. The final pages of the script were literally under lock and key."
Craven says this actually worked to everyone's benefit.
"Because almost everyone was a suspect, the actors worked this possibility into their performances. They all look pretty guilty at one time or another."
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