Adam Brody on the "Meta" Scream 4 and the Disappointment of Jennifer's Body
Posted 09.11.10 by Ryan
Adam Brody is more familiar to audiences for his performances in 2007's In the Land of Women and the TV show The O.C., but the actor's been making appearances in horror movies lately, first with last year's Jennifer's Body and now with the upcoming Scream 4. Brody spoke to Movieline about both movies and admitted that working on Scream 4, where he will play a deputy to David Arquette's now Sheriff Dewey, was a "surreal experience" considering he was a fan of the original.
It was cool and kind of surreal — not just to see Ghostface, but there was one night where Wes [Craven] was directing Ghostface in his mask. He’s like, "Ghostface, you’re over there...." It was just surreal: "God, I wish I had my camera." But to do the scenes not only in "Woodsboro," or do them with Ghostface, but to do them with David Arquette, Courtney Cox [Arquette] and Neve Campbell was weird.
The Scream franchise always employed the use of meta self-reference — discussing the "rules" of horror movies while being a horror movie as well, for instance — and Brody says that the fourth installment will not disappoint on that front.
Well, this one’s like meta on meta on meta. Self-referencing on self-referencing. But again, because the first one is about movies, and this one’s about movies and all the murders that have taken place onscreen over the years. This one’s all about commenting on itself. And I like that. It’s part of the fun.
What was disappointing for Brody was the reaction to Jennifer's Body, which received scathing reviews and fared poorly at the box office, only making back its $16 million budget at the domestic box office. Brody admits that he "really likes" the movie and that director Karyn Kusama did "such a good job." Brody admits he's not sure what happened with the movie's reception.
I don’t know what happened, and I don’t know if anything could have changed anything, or if that was the path it was going down no matter what, but I’m happy people are finding it on cable or wherever they’re finding it. But I do think it should win a Razzie for Worst Ad Campaign Ever. Seriously. They couldn’t have done a worse poster or trailer if that’s what they f**king set out to do. I don’t know. It was such a good opportunity for a cool trailer or poster, and it was like a Goosebumps/R.L. Stine poster. And even the idea that it was marketed to ... I mean, to me, it was a totally girl-centric movie; it was for girls first and about girls first. Yet it was marketed to Maxim only. "Megan Fox! This is for you!" I think it scared off its main audience.
Next Showing: Scream 4 opens April 15, 2011