Returning favorites from the franchise join the new cast in the final poster for Scream. The part-sequel, part-reboot will feature the fifth massacre carried out by one or more killers wearing the iconic Ghostface mask as everyone else scrambles to find out who’s responsible. It’s “always someone you know,” as one of the movie’s taglines would suggest, meaning that any one of the characters we see on the final poster could be unveiled as the new Ghostface. Of course, they’re also just as likely to be killed by the new Ghostface.
The official synopsis for Scream reads, “Twenty-five years after a streak of brutal murders shocked the quiet town of Woodsboro, a new killer has donned the Ghostface mask and begins targeting a group of teenagers to resurrect secrets from the town’s deadly past. Neve Campbell (“Sidney Prescott”), Courteney Cox (“Gale Weathers”) and David Arquette (“Dewey Riley”) return to their iconic roles in Scream alongside Melissa Barrera, Kyle Gallner, Mason Gooding, Mikey Madison, Dylan Minnette, Jenna Ortega, Jack Quaid, Marley Shelton, Jasmin Savoy Brown, and Sonia Ammar.”
This is a Project X Entertainment Production and a Radio Silence Film presented by Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media Group. Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett co-direct the movie using a screenplay by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick. Original screenwriter Kevin Williamson executive produces alongside Chad Villella, Gary Barber, Peter Oillataguerre, Ron Lynch, Cathy Konrad, and Marianne Maddalena.
We could also be looking at the start of a new franchise. Previously speaking with Total Film, co-director Tyler Gillett said, “This new cast of characters is so wonderful. The legacy cast, they’re so wonderful. I think what we discovered, and what [screenwriters] Guy [Busick] and James [Vanderbilt] did, is they found a real reason for the next story to exist. We know that there is more gas in the tank. There are more stories to be told in Woodsboro, and about these characters, for sure.”
“Well, it was always Scream 5 because it’s the fifth one,” Kevin Williamson also told US Weekly. “So I think we just threw that name out, but I don’t think they ever seriously were going to call it a Scream 5. I don’t think anybody wanted to see the number five after something. You’d have to ask them - Paramount or whoever, but I think taking the 5 off and calling it Scream [works] because it’s brand new. There’s the legacy cast, and how they infuse this new world and there’s this whole new generation and a new cast of characters that are extremely fun. I think it was a great cast. It’s an amazing group of kids and young talent and they’re very, very good. They pop off the screen, and now our Sidney and our mature characters who enter into it, they’re the adults. It works really really well.”
This focus on launching a new generation of Scream might also spell certain doom for the returning franchise favorites. Could Ghostface finally kill Sidney after four failed attempts, showing the new generation that they really mean business this time around? Dewey and Gale may also both finally see their luck running out as well, which is a scary thought for the longtime fans. In any case, it’s going to be interesting to see where the filmmakers take the sequel without the guidance of Wes Craven.
Scream will be released in theaters on Jan. 14, 2022.
