Screamcreator Kevin Williamson reflects on his dark comedy movieTeaching Mrs. Tingleand how it was impacted by the Columbine shooting. TheKatie Holmes-led moviesees her playing Leigh Ann Watson, an all-star student whose titular teacher—played by Helen Mirren—stands in the way of her goal of becoming valedictorian. After being accused of cheating by Tingle,Lee Ann and her friends take increasingly criminal measures to blackmail their teacherafter a confrontation at her home goes wrong and the trio end up holding her hostage.
While speaking withScreenRant’s Ash Crossan about Williamson’s new Netflix series,The Waterfront, the filmmaker explained how he was able to getTeaching Mrs. Tingleoff the ground after the success ofScream.However,he was never able to fully achieve his initial vision for the project. He explains how the entire movie had already been filmed, but thatthe events of Columbine necessitated extensive reshoots. Check out his comments below:
Well, Tingle was, directly. We shot the entire film. It was a totally different movie – and then Columbine happened, and we went back in and re-shot the film, and tried to vanilla it a little bit, and we sort of took the edges off of it, and we PG-13’d it. It went from a hard R to a PG movie, and it hurt to do that. I changed the entire tone of the movie, which is not the tone I intended. But things happen. The movie was trying to find the moment post-Columbine, and it wasn’t quite the way it was intended to be. But I thought Helen Mirren was fabulous in it, and I had a great time making it.
What This Means For Teaching Mrs. Tingle
Williamson was forced to make creative compromises onTeaching Mrs. Tingle,including a significant rewrite of protagonist Lee Ann Watson, who proved to be ruthless in the film’s original script. The Columbine shooting not only led to reshoots and delaying the movie’s release, but also required that the title be changed, as it was originally titledKilling Mrs. Tingle. Nevertheless, theScreamcreator still views his experience working on the film in a positive light, regardless of its poor performance at the box office in August 1999.
Fortunately for fans of theDawson’s Creekshowrunner, the 1999 film has proved to be little more than a minor blip in an otherwise prolific career.Williamson has returned to the beloved horror franchise he created, as he is currently directing the2026 filmScream 7. The long-awaited sequel is the first film Williamson has directed sinceTeaching Mrs. Tingle.
Our Take On Kevin Williamson’s Comments
The Original Film Could’ve Been One Of Williamson’s All-Time Best Works
The nationwide pressure to alter media in the wake of the Columbine shooting is—tragically—one of the few understandable censorship campaigns in our time. That’s not to say that I agree with the consequences the movement had for film and television, most notablyTeaching Mrs. Tingle, whose dark humor and cynically black tone was diluted out of fear of retribution from the American public.Too much art has been comprised throughout history, and hopefully one day, we get the chance to see a more realized version of Williamson’s original script on-screen.
In the long run, however,Teaching Mrs. Tinglehas not proven to be detrimental to Williamson, as today,the famed screenwriter’s new seriesThe Waterfrontis now streaming on Netflix, proving his staying power beyond 1990s teen cinema. Though we may never live to see Williamson’s original vision for the sardonic black comedy, we’re fortunate enough to live in a world where his unique dark humor still resonates with new and old fans alike.
