The Scream hype generated by the production of Scream 5 has brought a whole new audience into the mix. Some fans were captivated by the growing cult status of Scream 4—which has only strengthened over the last decade—while others were introduced through the now-abandoned Scream TV series.
But before any of these, there was another film—one that has since faded into obscurity.
A troubled production that reunited Wes Craven, Kevin Williamson, and Skeet Ulrich… yet never became the movie it was meant to be.
And Then Cursed Was Born
After the explosive ending of the original Scream trilogy, which was supposed to be the final act, Wes Craven, Kevin Williamson, and the now-disgraced producers at Dimension Films were on the hunt for the next big thing.
So, in 2005, they set out to create a new horror film, one that would do for classic movie monsters what Scream did for slashers.
What could possibly go wrong?
Development Hell: The Cursed Story
If you’ve followed Hollywood long enough, you know history repeats itself. Scream resurrected the slasher genre in the ‘90s, and Williamson—a brilliant predictor, sometimes too far ahead of his time (see Scream 4)—was convinced that vampires and werewolves were the next big horror trend.
He was right.
But that success would come four years later, on television, with The Vampire Diaries—not with Cursed.
A Film That Was Never Finished
- Cursed was filmed three times, with different storylines and different casts.
- The Weinsteins ordered exhaustive reshoots, leading to massive scheduling conflicts for both cast and crew.
- Even the released version has an unrated director’s cut, though it still doesn’t represent Craven and Williamson’s original vision.
The first cut of Cursed held a lot of promise.
For starters, it had several Scream alumni, making it seem like the team was trying to recreate a winning formula:
The Original Cast Included:
- Omar Epps (Scream 2)
- Scott Foley (Scream 3)
- Skeet Ulrich (Scream), who was originally the film’s leading man
- Mandy Moore
- Illeana Douglas
- Robert Forster
- Corey Feldman
- Scott Baio
- Heather Langenkamp (A Nightmare on Elm Street)—whose casting sparked curiosity, given that she was one of Wes Craven’s most beloved final girls
On the FX team, Cursed had none other than Rick Baker, the legendary artist behind An American Werewolf in London. Baker originally designed the first wave of practical werewolf effects, only to see his work altered beyond recognition after the reshoots.
Recently, props from the original version surfaced at auction, including a bust of Skeet Ulrich mid-werewolf transformation. Amusingly, the auction house confused his bust with Jesse Eisenberg’s, whose version was also up for bidding.
The Lost Cursed
The original storyline followed three strangers navigating L.A. after a werewolf attack:
🩸 Christina Ricci
🩸 Jesse Eisenberg (who, in this version, wasn’t her brother)
🩸 Skeet Ulrich (who was later replaced by Joshua Jackson in the final film)
In a recent interview with HelloSidney.com, longtime Craven collaborator Marianne Maddalena confirmed what many fans had feared:
“I don’t know if they will ever show us the first one, because we actually didn’t complete it.”
So, a true alternate version of Cursed may never be fully restored.
A Glimpse Into What Could Have Been
Fortunately, some behind-the-scenes footage still exists, giving fans a rare look at the production process. Check out the video below, originally aired by Entertainment Tonight, for a glimpse at the Cursed that almost was.
Would you have liked to see Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson’s original vision? Do you think Cursed deserved a better fate?
