James Van Der Beek Had a 'Beautiful Plan' for “Dawson's Creek” Reboot

Yamillah Hurtado, Brenton BlanchetTue, March 3, 2026 at 9:28 PM UTC

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James Van Der Beek on May 14, 2025Credit: JC Olivera/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty -

Dawson's Creek creator Kevin Williamson is looking back at a "beautiful plan" James Van Der Beek once proposed for a series revival

Van Der Beek died in February at age 48

"So we talked, but it didn’t happen," Williamson shared of Van Der Beek's idea

James Van Der Beek had a "beautiful plan" for a potential Dawson's Creek revival that never came to fruition.

In a new interview with Esquire published on Monday, March 2, and pegged to his work in Scream 7, series creator Kevin Williamson detailed how the late series star — who played the titular Dawson Leery for six seasons from 1998 to 2003 — "talked about rebooting Dawson’s Creek several times" with him.

“He wanted to do it," Williamson said, pointing to sometime around 2016. "And, in fact, there was a moment where he was going to write it — and he had a really great idea for it. He had a beautiful plan. Then I think he got on a show and everybody got busy. It never happened. But there was a lot of talk about it.”

He added, “So it was back a while. We talked about it, but Michelle Williams’ character was already gone. Four had already become three. So we talked, but it didn’t happen.”

James Van Der Beek on 'Dawson's Creek' in 1997Credit: Getty Images

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While Williamson didn't remember the specifics of Van Der Beek's proposed idea, he believed it was "funny" at the time.

"I remember I had a conversation with Katie [Holmes] and him once, but I just don’t remember. I don’t want to misspeak,” Williamson said. “I think it was a little along the lines of This Is Us. We envisioned it to have that kind of tone, because that was very popular at the time when we had been discussing it. So this [happened around] season 1 of that show.”

Sony also "asked me a couple of times if I’d be interested in developing it," per Williamson, but he "just didn’t want to go back there" and didn't "know what that would look like.”

As for where he sees things going with Dawson's Creek now, the series creator admitted he “could see it more as a Broadway show, quite frankly,” especially given the amount of music that took off thanks to the series.

"There’s a very nostalgic trip down memory lane with that show,” Williamson said. “You could do the first couple of episodes and then jump to the end. And you could fill in the blanks and just do a musical out of it, but … I can’t write music. I can’t sing.”

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From left: Katie Holmes (Joey Potter), James Van Der Beek (Dawson Leery), Michelle Williams (Jennifer Lindley) and Joshua Jackson (Pacey) on 'Dawson's Creek' in 1997Credit: Getty Images

Williamson has “always been resistant" about the show returning, he said. “I always felt like, ‘Well, we did that. We finished it.’ In the last episode, we jumped five years," he told Esquire. "We went to the future. The last episode of that show was the remake. So I feel very okay with that. And I don’t feel the need to go back to that world, as much as I love them and would love to.”

Dawson's six-season run starred Van Der Beek and Holmes, 47, alongside the likes of Michelle Williams, Joshua Jackson, Mary Beth Peil, John Wesley Shipp, Mary-Margaret Humes, Nina Repeta, Kerr Smith, Meredith Monroe, Busy Philipps and more. Before Van Der Beek's death at 48 from cancer in February, the cast reunited for a one-night-only charity event on Sept. 22, 2025, in New York City.

While Van Der Beek was not in attendance, the actor's family was introduced to a standing ovation and also joined the cast on stage in a singalong of the show's theme song, "I Don't Want to Wait" by Paula Cole.

James Van Der Beek (left) and Michelle Williams on 'Dawson's Creek' in 1997Credit: Brownie Harris/Corbis via Getty

Back in 2021, Humes, who played Dawson's mom Gail Leery, revealed during a '90s TV moms panel that there was a "secret text message" chain among the actors about a reboot, adding that there was "certainly a lot of buzz" around it.

Van Der Beek died on Feb. 11 at 48, following his journey with stage 3 colorectal cancer. His wife, Kimberly Van Der Beek, shared the news via Instagram. In an Instagram tribute last month, Williamson wrote that he "tried to form the words to express the beautiful brilliance of James and what his presence has meant to my life."

"But I am truly at a loss for words. I will have to trust that one day those words will come... But today, all I can think about is Kimberly and the entire Van Der Beek family. My heart is with you," he wrote.

Holmes, who played Joey Potter in the drama, paid tribute to her late costar with a handwritten note posted on Instagram following his death.

"James, thank you. To share a space with your imagination is sacred — breathing the same air in the land of make believe and trusting that each other's hearts are safe in their expression,” she wrote.

“Bravery. Compassion. Selflessness. Strength. An appreciation for life with the integrity that life is art — creating a beautiful marriage, six loving children — the journey of a hero.”

“I mourn this loss with a heart holding the reality of his absence and deep gratitude for his imprint on it,” she continued.

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