alternatehistory.com

So, some butterflies got flapped for the 1999 October theatrical season. After the roaring success of the first two Scream films, Wes Craven was brought back into the fold for the remake of the Robert Wise classic. Spielberg and King, who had separated due to creative differences in OTL, were able to agree on a script, which drew both from the original Shirley Jackson novel and the story of the Winchester Mystery House. The film had half the budget of the OTL version, but the combination of King's writing and Craven's creative directing made this work in its favor, resulting in a critically praised film that also made a bigger haul, destroying the remake of William Castle's House on Haunted Hill (now making $20 million instead of $40 million) and Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow ($103.5 million box office off a $70 million budget) with only The Blair Witch Project (OTL box office) and End of Days (starring Tom Cruise ITTL and making $300 million instead of OTL's $200 million) surviving the season.