Radio Silence Talk ‘Abigail,’ Their ‘Scream’ Exit and Trying to Make ‘The Shining’ Elevators Jealous

Abigail has been a long time coming for Radio Silence, the filmmaking collective consisting of co-directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin/Tyler Gillett and producer Chad Villella.

Coming off of their successful relaunch of the Scream franchise in 2022, the team strived to make another film before they returned to Ghostface. One idea was a feature now known as Abigail, but they ultimately ended up shooting Scream VI instead, as Scream rights holder Spyglass Media was eager to keep the momentum going. And together, they did just that, as Scream VI went on to set domestic box office records for the franchise.

Still, Abigail never left Radio Silence’s minds. As they were making Scream VI, the team was also preparing to do the ballerina vampire pic immediately after they finished promoting Scream VI’s March 2023 release. After all, they’d just put out two Scream movies within a 14-month period, so it’s understandable why they’d want a palate cleanser before capping their own trilogy within the overall series of Scream films. However, Spyglass — knowing that the franchise had even more wind at its back and that labor strikes were looming — opted not to slow the train down at the time, so both parties bid adieu amicably.

“I don’t think that that’s an uncommon story. We talk a lot about wanting to model our careers after filmmakers like Ron Howard and Rob Reiner, who were always just making something,” Gillett tells The Hollywood Reporter. “And so, yeah, a month after the premiere of Scream VI, we had this go-project at Universal that we had really fallen in love with … So it was just ready to go, and that happens, sometimes.”

When people leave a thriving company or project that they helped develop, they often take comfort that it will continue on in their absence, and while that was initially the expectation for Scream 7, Radio Silence never could’ve expected the dramatic turn of events that followed. Firstly, rising star Jenna Ortega exited the franchise in short order, and then Melissa Barrera — whose character, Sam Carpenter, was essentially the lead of Radio Silence’s two films — was abruptly fired due to her social media posts on the Israel-Hamas conflict. 

“It’s just a challenge when you see people that you care about, that love something, dealing with any form of challenge,” Gillett says. “But, honestly, we were so heads-down at that time. It was just a whirlwind. Abigail happened out of a cannon, and because of the looming writers’ strike, it required so much dedication.”

Prior to the departure of Barrera, Radio Silence’s friend, Christopher Landon, signed on to helm Scream 7, and he was considered by many to be one of the most ideal replacements, if not the most ideal. However, Barrera’s exit helped turn his “dream job” into a self-proclaimed “nightmare,” so he, too, left the troubled seventh installment.

Original franchise co-creator and screenwriter Kevin Williamson has since come on to direct Scream 7, and the franchise is now moving away from Radio Silence’s “Core Four” of the Carpenter sisters (Barrera/Ortega) and the Meeks-Martin twins (Jasmin Savoy Brown/Mason Gooding), and refocusing on Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott and Courteney Cox’s Gale Weathers.

In 2022, Williamson spoke to THR for the 25th anniversary of Scream 2, and the writer spoke very highly of Radio Silence, calling them “awesome” and “great friends.” So, despite everything that’s happened, Radio Silence will still be first in line for everything that the franchise produces, as they were Scream fans long before they were Scream filmmakers. 

“We’ve said it many times, but we hope that Scream continues forever. It’s a franchise that we love dearly, obviously, and the more films that exist in that canon, the better, as far as we’re concerned,” Gillett adds. 

What makes this saga all the more twisty is that Barrera was leading the way on Radio Silence’s Abigail set when she was dismissed from Scream. In the vampire horror film, she plays “Joey,” and she’s the one kidnapper in the story’s kidnap-for-ransom crew who expresses genuine empathy for their 12-year-old ballerina “victim,” Abigail (Alisa Weir). Radio Silence is also making clear that they have every intention of continuing to work with their most frequent collaborator.

“We’re always excited and going to be excited and looking to work with Melissa again,” Gillett says.

Abigail also serves as one of the bloodiest major studio films in quite some time, and Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett purposefully set a very high bar for themselves. 

“There was a line in the script that said, ‘Even The Shining elevators would be jealous.’ So we really took that to heart with this movie,” Gillett says.

Below, during a recent conversation with THR, Radio Silence also discuss the tragic passing of Angus Cloud during Abigail‘s post-production and how that impacted their editing process. Then they offer their thoughts on a potential Ready or Not sequel, as well as the influence that their Ready or Not star, Samara Weaving, had on Barrera’s Sam Carpenter. 

Well, before we get started, I just want to say that if you happen to crack any inside jokes involving screenwriter Guy Busick today, please make them explicitly clear after last time. 

Matt Bettinelli-Olpin: Oh no!

Tyler Gillett: What happened!? 

I basically led with the idea that Guy was the one who started the Stu Macher-Scream VI rumors, and then I got an email from you, Tyler, as well as several others, saying that it was just a “long-running inside joke.”

Radio Silence: (Laugh.) 

Bettinelli-Olpin: Oh my god, so many apologies. 

Gillett: Now, I just want to make jokes about Guy.

Bettinelli-Olpin: You have our word. We’ll have an inside joke timeout or signal.

Gillett: A moratorium on inside jokes. 

To set the stage for how you got here, you released two Scream films in 14 months, and you clearly wanted a change of scenery before making a third film. However, the powers that be wanted to enjoy the momentum while they had it. So is that the gist of why everyone went their separate ways?

Gillett: I don’t think that that’s an uncommon story. We talk a lot about wanting to model our careers after filmmakers like Ron Howard and Rob Reiner, who were always just making something. They were always fascinated with the next thing and ready for the next thing, and we very much want to design our careers in a similar way. And so, yeah, a month after the premiere of Scream VI, we had this go-project at Universal that we had really fallen in love with over the course of working with [co-writers] Stephen [Shields] and Guy. So it was just ready to go, and that happens, sometimes. We’ve said it many times, but we hope that Scream continues forever. It’s a franchise that we love dearly, obviously, and the more films that exist in that canon, the better, as far as we’re concerned.

Is it true that you first wanted to make Abigail after Scream 5? That would also explain the urge to no longer want to put it off.

Bettinelli-Olpin: Yeah, but was that Abigail or Reunion? 

Gillett: Well, it was both because Reunion then …. 

Bettinelli-Olpin: Became Abigail … 

Gillett: Yeah, it dovetailed with Abigail.

Bettinelli-Olpin: Yeah, it’s a bit of a thing, but basically, yes. We had a moment there where we wanted to go make another movie between the two Screams, and then that moment evaporated. And that turned into Abigail, which, throughout the process of making Scream VI, we were getting ready to go do. So Scream VI came out in March 2023, and we were in Dublin by the end of April.

Gillett: I went out to scout in November. 

Bettinelli-Olpin: Yeah, I was still in the [Scream VI] edit. 

Gillett: Yeah, and I was like, “Well, we’ve got to go find the house.” And so I flew to Ireland and found the Glenmaroon House, where we ultimately ended up shooting Abigail.

Bettinelli-Olpin: [Producer] William Sherak, who we’ve made the last four movies with, always says, “Movies get forced into existence. They don’t just happen.” And when you have a movie that you’re in love with that’s ready to go …

Gillett: You don’t say no.

Bettinelli-Olpin: Yeah, you go!

You left the Scream franchise in the best possible position, as Scream VI had the biggest domestic opening and total to date. But, in the blink of an eye, everything fell apart. So, in some ways, was the unraveling harder to handle than your own exit? 

Gillett: It’s just a challenge when you see people that you care about, that love something, dealing with any form of challenge. But, honestly, we were so heads-down at that time. It was just a whirlwind. Abigail happened out of a cannon, and because of the looming writers’ strike, it required so much dedication. And this is a credit to Guy, who was on the rewrite at the time. We had to hammer out a lot to build a production draft before we knew a potential strike date. And then, of course, the strike happened, and it was a crazy year to make a movie.

Bettinelli-Olpin: But we felt good about how we left Scream VI. We’ve said this a lot, but we always design every movie to be a standalone, including Scream 5 and Scream VI.

Your two films were about Sam Carpenter being tempted with the dark side, and to be honest, I walked out of Scream VI wishing that she’d held onto the Ghostface mask. It would’ve left us on edge going into your potential trilogy capper. But, in hindsight, I’m so glad that she dropped the mask. It’s not the ending you planned for the Carpenter sisters’ story, but it’s still an ending. Anyway, there really wasn’t any back and forth at the time about keeping the mask or not?

Bettinelli-Olpin: None. We’ve always loved the idea that a giant Scream fan can watch Scream VI, knowing every detail of Scream one through five, and still have a very rewarding experience. But we also designed it so that you can just throw on Scream VI, and all the information you need is in there. It’s an A to Z story. It’s complete. Not for nothing, but Scream 5 is also designed that way. We didn’t know we were going to make Scream VI, and we wanted Scream 5 to be a complete story and a full thought. So we felt the same way on Scream VI, and it worked out that the Carpenter sisters now have a nice two-movie arc. It’s a really beautiful story for the Carpenter sisters and the Meeks-Martin twins …

Gillett: Core four! 

Radio Silence: (Laugh.)

Gillett: One of the cool, unique things about Scream as a franchise is that they are all close-ended films. There is an episodic nature to them. That’s why the next film in the lineage is always so different from its predecessor. Yes, there are connections to the past, but it’s not carrying any direct continuity baggage with it. The movie always starts in its own unique, fresh way and introduces you to a new cast of characters. So, by design, a Scream movie really is a full flavor. It’s a mystery that gets solved by the end.

Bettinelli-Olpin: Well, it’s a mystery where the killers reveal themselves.

Radio Silence: (Laugh.)

Gillett: Exactly! God, that was a really fun Dermot [Mulroney] line that got cut [from Scream VI]. So, in a lot of ways, we were just drafting off of what was so great about the episodic nature of the previous four films.

Friends of your Ready or Not star Samara Weaving call her Sam, so was Sam Carpenter named after Sam Weaving? 

Bettinelli-Olpin: I think so, yeah. 

Gillett: Yeah, that was a very intentional move by Guy and Jamie [Vanderbilt].

Bettinelli-Olpin: They wrote that [Scream 5] script right after we were coming off Ready or Not. We’ve gotten really lucky. We’ve worked with a bunch of really great actors who are also really great people. So you’ll see those [types of tributes] in a lot of our movies. Even in Abigail, there’s a nod to Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett who we worked with years ago [on V/HS/ (2012)].

I just spoke to Dan Stevens a couple weeks ago, and we talked a lot about those guys. Of course, knowing what I know now, I desperately wish I had seen Abigail at that point. Have Adam and Simon seen it yet? 

Bettinelli-Olpin: They haven’t!

Gillett: They’re coming to the premiere. 

Bettinelli-Olpin: I think Adam’s coming to the premiere, but Simon will be out of town. We found out today that he gets to watch it eight hours earlier than us because of time zones. So they’re going to see it, but they do not know that a certain character is a nod to them.

So when did you approach Melissa Barrera about a third film together?

Gillett: It was right away. The movie was happening at this very accelerated pace. We’d just come off of Scream VI, and we’re always excited and going to be excited and looking to work with Melissa again. And it felt like, “Alright, what are some of the hacks that can make this insane timeline really work in our favor?” And, for us, a lot of that is working with people that we love and that we have a shorthand with and some familiarity with. And Guy was certainly a part of that. 

Bettinelli-Olpin: Who, for the record, did not start the Stu Macher rumor.

Radio Silence: (Laugh.)

Gillett: And so it was a really easy choice and a very quick choice for us. Matt and I have found this in our collaboration from movie to movie, but to evolve creatively over the course of a bunch of projects is something that’s just really fun. It makes them really personal, and our relationship with Melissa is now over the course of four or five years. So, to watch each other grow and evolve as creatives, it’s such a cool thing, and we’re so grateful to have that kind of a working relationship with an actor. So she was an easy choice.

She’s incredible in this movie, especially the scene where her character, Joey, sizes up each member of this kidnap-for-ransom crew. In some ways, did the entire movie hinge on the dynamics of those character introductions?  

Bettinelli-Olpin: It was an extremely important scene for us to get right, and it was also the first day of filming, so we really went into that with nerves. And then, after a few takes, we started to relax a little, and we were like, “Okay, good. I really like what everybody’s bringing to this. This is really exciting.” It also really helped us because the actors were getting to know each other in real life, and the characters were getting to know each other in the movie. So we were able to witness these two things happening simultaneously, and it’s in that scene that those relationships and those bonds begin to form. We watched that scene in the dailies, and instantly, we were like, “I know who these people are now.” We could see that through.

Gillett: They were so distinct from one another.

Bettinelli-Olpin: Yeah, we could see the little things. We were also just getting to know the actors, and we could see what they were bringing so that we could then highlight it and make it special and lean into it throughout the next few months of shooting. So it was daunting to shoot that on the first day, but it was also such a blessing. 

Gillett: We’re also suckers for scenes and movies where your lead character is so far ahead of everyone in the scene and also so far ahead of the audience. I think of that scene in Rounders where Mike [Matt Damon] walks into the poker hand with all of the judges and he’s just like, “I know what you’re holding, I know what you’re holding.” There’s something so fun and wonderful about introducing the audience to a character in a moment like that where they’re just so capable and you can tell that they’re paying attention. That’s just such a fun trope, and that was one of many crime movie tropes that we deploy in this story, but it’s particularly fun in that scene.

Whether it’s the Wet Bandits in Home Alone or the trio of thieves in Don’t Breathe, there’s something so satisfying about the trope where criminals, like the ones in Abigail, think they’ve found an easy target, only to learn how very, very wrong they were.

Bettinelli-Olpin: Yeah, we also love that device. The Usual Suspects is another one that we talked about a lot, but it goes hand in hand with something else that we really love and were really excited to dig into on this movie that we hadn’t really done before. Every single character is a bad guy. There’s the monster, and then there’s the people who kidnapped her. So our job became, “While they’ve done bad things, how do you make these people still relatable and still lovable to some extent, to where you’re still rooting for them even when they’re not good?”

Gillett: When they’ve done the worst thing!

Bettinelli-Olpin: So that was a real fun challenge, and a lot of our favorite movies have that texture. Go to The Wild Bunch, The Dirty Dozen or any of those movies where you get a bunch of bad guys together, and the movie still allows you to care about them and to be empathetic towards them. Your allegiances can shift during the movie as certain people become worse, but it’s a fun place to play. So it was just really exciting for us, especially with this group of actors.

When you told the studio that the movie was going to be a bit bloody, did you undersell the amount just to be safe? Or were you transparent from the start? 

Gillett: (Laughs.) We were pretty transparent from the beginning. The studio had certainly seen our previous work, and to their credit, they wanted something that was going to be gonzo at the end. The fun of the project for them and for us is that this story starts in a way that feels like, “Oh yeah, familiar. I get this,” and then by the end of the movie, you have forgotten how it began because, in a matter of less than 48 hours for those characters, the shit that they go through is so extreme. We really love thinking about the movie from 30,000 feet, and we started it with this really graceful ballet, knowing that, at the end of the movie, you’re going to see that same ballerina and one of the kidnappers in a room that is just absolutely drenched in blood. There was a line in the script that said, “Even The Shining elevators would be jealous.” So we really took that to heart with this movie.

Why was the movie untitled for so long, and how much debate was there about whether to use the words vampire or Dracula in the title?

Bettinelli-Olpin: None, actually. The [first] draft that we got, was it Dracula’s Daughter?

Gillett: No, it was called Abducting Abigail. 

Bettinelli-Olpin: So the first draft we got was called Abducting Abigail, and we later learned that an earlier draft we never saw had been called Dracula’s Daughter. But we just were not fans of the Abducting Abigail title, and no disrespect to [co-writer] Stephen Shields, who we absolutely love and adore. So we just asked that it be called Abigail because we really liked that, and it stuck through production. In so many of the movies that we love where you kind of care about the villain, the villain is such a major part of the story, but they’re not one of the “main characters,” like Alien, Jaws, Terminator, Predator. But the title character is still the villain or the monster, so we used that blueprint for Abigail.

Gillett: We made a really conscious choice to remove Dracula from the story, and the hope and the desire was to create something that was never living in the shadow of that monster. It’s such a significant title and such a significant character, but this is a movie about Abigail and her captors. So we didn’t want it to ever feel like it was more about the offscreen story than what is happening in front of you, and to Universal’s credit, they never forced us or even asked us to tie this movie to any lineage or to any other property or to any other character. They encouraged us to take Abigail and make something totally unique, a lot like they did with The Invisible Man. They were really interested in us interpreting our version of a heist movie that gets hijacked by a vampire movie, and to not have to be beholden to anything that has come before it.

You guys broke bread with Chris Landon and Freaky writer Michael Kennedy last year. You had already cast Kathryn Newton at that point, right? 

Bettinelli-Olpin: Yes, we’ve been fans of Kathryn since we first saw her in Paranormal Activity 4, and we’ve loved her in everything. Freaky. Lisa Frankenstein is maybe my favorite movie this year; it’s definitely in the top three, if not my favorite movie this year. So we’re just giant fans of Kathryn.

Gillett: I’m a little starstruck by her, to be honest. She’s just so remarkable. 

Bettinelli-Olpin: Yeah, and when we had dinner with Chris and Michael Kennedy, there was a lot of, “Isn’t Kathryn the best?”

Radio Silence: (Laugh.)

Gillett: There was a lot of Kathryn love.

The passing of Angus Cloud was incredibly tragic, and I can’t imagine what post-production must’ve been like for you guys. Knowing that you were responsible for what could be his final performance, did you go through his footage again with a fine-tooth comb just to make sure you left no stone unturned?

Gillett: Yeah, we did, and everything got reframed. We were looking at his performance in a new context, of course, after his passing. He was so remarkable in the movie that it was really easy to edit him. If anything, we had an overabundance. He’s one of those performers that never did the same thing twice, but it was always gold. Everyone would wait for the moments when Angus would deliver his lines because we just knew that it was going to be something special. And honestly, a lot of bloopers surround Angus’ performance because there were moments where he was so funny that people just couldn’t keep it together. So we’re so lucky to have gotten to know him. He was a true talent and you can’t say enough about how lovely he was.

Bettinelli-Olpin: It’s just a testament to how electric he was as an actor. Table reads can go in either direction, but Angus was so incredible at the table read that we got an email from the studio that night. It was about some other stuff, but then the last sentence was: “Anything Angus Cloud wants to say in the movie is approved by the studio.” So I think people are going to really like what he does in this movie. It’s really special.

Every movie has a first and a most of some kind. What was the first and the most in the case of Abigail? 

Bettinelli-Olpin: It was our first time working with a minor. 

Gillett: There was a lot of anxiety surrounding that in the lead-up to shooting, and it evaporated literally the second Alisha [Weir] started speaking in front of the lens.

Bettinelli-Olpin: There was no anxiety after we saw her on set. We were like, “Oh my God, she can carry this movie. This is incredible.” But it’s definitely the most blood and f-bombs for us.

Gillett: First and most action, too. We really loved the idea that we were going to do a big blowout vampire fight in this movie, and that was going to require some fun wire work. There were things we’ve always dreamed of doing, and we’re always secretly trying to make action movies. So, to maybe not-so-secretly get to make an action movie with this one was really a first and also a most just in terms of the most setups in a sequence. Scene 108 had 383 setups; it’s that action sequence at the end of the movie. We probably should have just split the scene into parts. I’m not sure why we didn’t do that. (Laughs.)

Bettinelli-Olpin: Also, tell me if you disagree with this, but we take a lot of pains to make sure that everything we make is very personal. Because, if it’s not, then what’s the point? And there was something about the process of making this one. There were so many obstacles to overcome, but everybody working on the movie was so wonderful and so lovely and just so supportive throughout it that it has maybe become our most personal movie in a weird way.

Gillett: Yeah! We love it differently. 

Bettinelli-Olpin: It’s not like it’s our life story, but there’s so much of us in this movie and there’s so much of everyone who worked on the movie. This is true for all of our movies by design, but with this one specifically, there is so much of the handmade personal touch that just runs throughout it. It gives it an energy that you can hopefully feel when you’re watching it, and that you know it’s made with love and care.

You made two movies in someone else’s franchise, and it must be quite a rewarding feeling to know that someone else could be stepping into a sandbox you helped create, meaning Ready or Not. Is that sequel actually in the works? 

Gillett: It’s not going to be very interesting what we have to say because we’re really not entirely sure what’s happening with that.

Bettinelli-Olpin: We’ve read what you’ve read. (Laughs.)

Gillett: We know there’s a script. We’ve worked on that script, so we know it’s fantastic. 

Bettinelli-Olpin: But we’ve worked on that for years since …

Gillett: It’s been literally years. Four years?

Bettinelli-Olpin: At least, yeah. But best of luck to whoever makes it. We love that movie, and we hope it’s great. 

Gillett: Ready or Not is the love of our lives, and we’re excited that there’s another story in that saga. 

Well, Matt and Tyler, congratulations on Abigail, and Tyler, as much as I enjoy talking to you, I really hope my inbox avoids another correction email. 

Radio Silence: (Laugh.)

Gillett: I’ll find some way to email you and freak you out.

***
Abigail is now playing in movie theaters.