Scream, the revival of the slasher movie franchise previously helmed by Wes Craven, has just officially gotten its rating. This probably won’t surprise anyone, but the horror movie is rated R due to its “strong bloody violence, language throughout, and some sexual references.” That’s obviously similar to the content featured in all four prior installments of the Scream movie series, so we shouldn’t expect this revival to be any less bloody. This is good news for the viewers but bad news for the characters.
Part sequel and part reboot, Scream brings back a handful of returning cast members, blending them alongside a new cast that could potentially lead the way for a new movie series. The big returns include Neve Campbell as Sidney, Courteney Cox as Gale, and David Arquette as Dewey, and Scream 4’s Marley Shelton as Judy Hicks. Roger L. Jackson is also back as the voice of Ghostface, or shall we say the voice-changing device that the Ghostface killers always use when confronting Sidney and other victims.
New cast members include Jenna Ortega, Melissa Barrera, Mason Gooding, Jack Quaid, Dylan Minnette, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Sonia Ben Ammar, Mikey Madison, and Kyle Gallner. A big part of the fun every time a Scream movie comes out is guessing which character might be the killer, or killers, as has been the case. You only get that particular enjoyment on the first viewing which is what so many fans are eager to experience come January when this new movie is released. Wes Craven was a master of his craft at pulling this off in prior movies so let’s hope the new filmmakers have taken the appropriate notes with developing the new Scream.
James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick wrote the screenplay, though original writer Kevin Williamson is on board as an executive producer. Per Paramount Pictures, 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.”
Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett co-direct Scream. Neve Campbell has said that the only reason she signed on was that she spoke with the directors and could tell from those conversations just how much respect they had for Wes Craven and the Scream movies. While no one can ever replace Craven, Campbell felt that the new filmmakers understood what it was that made the Scream movies special for horror fans, and this should hopefully come across in the new installment as well.
“I had been really apprehensive about doing another one,” Campbell previously told Variety. “People had asked in the past whether I would do another one without Wes or whether I would make another one. I always felt like it’d be too difficult to do it without Wes. He was the master of these films. He did such a beautiful job on them. We were a family.”
She added, “They actually wrote me a letter and they said they basically are directors because of these films. They are directors because of Wes Craven and they’re really so excited to be a part of these films and what an honor it is to do them, and that they really want to do justice to Wes and honor his legacy. That meant a lot… So I thought, ‘You know what, I can do this.’ I think this could be a lot of fun and a good idea. These are people who are doing it for the love of these films. So that meant something.”
Scream will be released in movie theaters on Jan. 14, 2022.
