Scream’s directors connected the dots between Wes Craven and Jordan Peele for their sequel

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Since their rise in popularity in the 1980s, slasher movies have been known for their deluge of sequels. From the four alternate Halloween universes, to all three Slumber Party Massacres, just about every franchise has at least a few follow-ups, and most of them prioritize wacky kills over tension and big ideas. The biggest exception to that rule, ironically, is the slasher-parody series Scream, which will return next week for its first sequel in over a decade.

Despite the somewhat confusing title, Scream (2022) is more like Scream 5 than a new beginning. The films picks up after the events of 2011’s Scream 4, which saw series’ protagonist — and seemingly eternal Ghostface target — Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) unite with her cousin (Emma Roberts). Of course, it’s also a Scream movie, so that cousin turned out to be in on the plot to kill Sidney the whole time.

Based on the movie’s trailers, a new Ghostface has begun targeting relatives of former victims. By passing this legacy of killers and victims down to a new generation, it seems this latest entry might also serve as a bit of a reboot, giving us a bigger cast of young characters than previous movies, while still letting series’ staples like, Sidney, Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox), and Dewey Riley (David Arquette) share the spotlight.

One member of the original Scream team that isn’t involved in the sequel is horror legend Wes Craven, who passed away in 2015. While few slasher franchises ever bring back directors, Craven directed all four of the previous Scream movies. Taking over for the Nightmare on Elm Street director is Radio Silence, the directing and production team behind 2019’s great horror-comedy Ready or Not.

While taking over a franchise from a master horror filmmaker isn’t easy, the members of Radio Silence explained in an interview with Polygon that Craven’s influence will be easy to see in the new Scream movie. But they also had more than just the past on their mind when making the movie.

“We all we grew up on [Craven’s] movies. So they’re just kind of in our DNA in a way that a very few directors are because we just love all these things,” said Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, a member of Radio Silence and the new Scream’s co-director. “We can name our top five directors, and he’s one of them. [Craven’s style] is just kind of built into the way that we approach things from jump before we ever thought we’d be involved in Scream.”

While it would be impossible to make any horror movie — let alone a Scream sequel — without Craven feeling like an influence, it wasn’t really the focus of the team during production. Instead, they wanted to make sure they did something authentic rather than simply relying on pure homage for the movie’s style.

“I think one of the things that is so embedded in all of Wes Craven’s work, that kind of allowed us to do our own thing, and kind of hopefully push the franchise forward, is that his movies always take risks,” said Bettinelli-Olpin. “So I think we would have been disappointed in ourselves and feel like we let down Wes, if we made a movie that was 100 perecent homage and just about the past.”

According to everyone on the Radio Silence team, getting the new Scream right really came down to the script, which was penned by Ready or Not producer James Vanderbilt (known best for writing Zodiac) and the horror comedy’s writer, Guy Busick. The two penned the sequel before Radio Silence was even involved.

“For us, it was like, if the blueprint is there, if it feels like a Scream movie on the page, we know this is the right group to go and execute that,” co-director Tyler Gillett said. “And thankfully, it absolutely did.”

The Scream franchise has always been a satire of horror’s slasher subgenre, and while they may have ruled the decades before the first Scream’s 1999 release, they aren’t exactly thriving anymore. While Michael Meyers is once again stalking his way through suburban neighborhoods, few other slasher series have survived into modern times. Instead, directors like Jordan Peele have mutated slasher DNA into a new kind of movie, an evolution the Radio Silence both looked to and commented on for Scream.

“Movies like Get Out and Us have really sort of changed the conversation,” said Gillett. Gillett says that he thinks these movies have helped usher in a new generation of horror fans who are now going back and watching the classic in a new way. “It feels like people have finally caught up to how valuable and fun and interesting the genre is. There’s definitely some conversation in this Scream movie about that.”

But just because the slasher genre isn’t booming in real-life doesn’t mean that they’ve disappeared from the world of Scream. One of the series most ridiculous and hilarious meta-gags will also be back, as the Stab franchise gets as new entry. Stab is the in-universe movie that was made about the Ghostface killings and in each subsequent Scream sequel we’ve gotten a new update on the meta-movie’s meta-movie. Radio Silence weren’t keen to share any specifics for fear of spoiling the movie, but Bettinelli-Olpin did tell Polygon that “Stab is a part of this world for sure.”

Since the Scream franchise remains as meta as anything in Hollywood, Stab and contemporary horror won’t be the only things referenced. In fact, Radio Silence’s Chad Villella — who serves as an executive producer on Scream (2022) — only had one piece of advice for fans who are excited about the new movie: “I think everybody should be well versed in Screams 1, 2, 3, and 4 before they watch the new Scream.”

18 details you probably missed in ‘Scream’

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Sidney’s dad says the name of the hotel he’ll be at in his first scene.

He says he’s staying at the Hilton by the airport. Dimension Films

During their first conversation, Mr. Prescott tells Sidney that he’ll be staying at the Hilton by the airport.

Later on, when Dewey says he isn’t registered there, it’s suggested that Sidney may be wrong about which hotel her father was staying at. But viewers who were paying attention earlier will realize she’s correct.

‘Yellowjackets’ star Jasmin Savoy Brown on ‘different ways’ of exploring violence in new ‘Scream’

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Even though actress Jasmin Savoy-Brown has been working steadily in film and TV for the past decade, she’s having a bit of a moment right now in horror circles, co-starring in two of the buzziest titles in the genre: Scream (2022) and Showtime’s original series, Yellowjackets.

In the critically lauded Yellowjackets, the actress plays Taissa, a soccer player on the high school championship Yellowjackets team who is one of the survivors of a harrowing plane crash in the remote wilderness. The series reveals the ordeals she and her teammates go through to survive in the aftermath, and then what becomes of them 25-years later after some are rescued. Meanwhile in the latest Scream, Savoy-Brown is Mindy Meeks-Martin a Woodsboro resident terrorized by a new killer in town.

“It’s funny because I don’t really like watching horror,” Savoy-Brown admits to SYFY WIRE about her current projects. “I really hate blood. I hate violence. But I think [horror] can be cathartic and it’s important. And Yellowjackets and Scream obviously explore violence in very different ways.”

Diving into the genres for both TV and film, Savoy-Brown says she’s been able to appreciate how the horror genre is able to confront and address topics other genres won’t touch. “You know, human beings are inherently violent, and we always have been.” She notes: “The Salem Witch Trials, nailing Jesus to a cross, burning people at the stake, stonings, and then these days, it’s mass shootings and sexual violence. We have violent impulses, and I think those impulses themselves aren’t what’s bad, but it’s how they come out. I think if we can put those impulses into art, which is what we’re doing with films and shows like these, then we can explore them.”

With the Season 1 finale of Yellowjackets airing on Showtime Sunday night, Savoy-Brown says the series has been unique in exploring female violence in a frank and realistic way. “[The series] is a safe space to look at violence, let the impulses out and say ’let’s talk about it.’ Let’s see how we can evolve beyond some of our violent impulses. So, I think that horror really does a service to human beings and it’s really great that I get to be a part of that.”

She’s also thrilled to be part of the long-time legacy of the Scream franchise as the next generation of actors to join legacy icons like Courteney Cox, David Arquette and Neve Campbell. “It’s been another honor,” Savoy-Brown enthuses. “This franchise is a legacy franchise for a reason. It was the first of its kind. It broke so many boxes and started so many great trends in horror, but no one can do it quite like Scream and that is really cool.”

With production pending on the next season of Yellowjackets, the actress may have a little down time which she hopes to fill with something very different. “I would love someone to put me in a romantic comedy next though,” she laughs. “I would like a [horror] break for a minute. Just real quick.”

Scream Writer Confirms Original Plans for Scream 5 & 6

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It’s been over ten years since Scream 4 hit theaters, but the fifth installment is finally here. The new movie, which is simply titled Scream, was released last night and it’s been met with mostly positive reviews from critics and audiences alike. The new horror film is currently up on Rotten Tomatoes with a 76% critics score and an 89% audience score. The new movie is the first of the franchise that wasn’t helmed by the late, great Wes Craven. Ready or Not directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett stepped in with original Scream writer Kevin Williamson producing. In a recent interview with Bloody Disgusting, Williamson revealed the original plans for the fifth and even sixth Scream movies. At one point, Scream 4’s Jill (Emma Roberts) was supposed to return.

“Jill went to college, and then murders started on the campus. And it was a killer who knew she was the killer from the last film. So the killer kept trying to expose her, so she would have to kill to keep it covered up. So it was killer meets killer. And Sidney [Neve Campbell] was a professor at that school,” Williamson shared. “Scream 6 was gonna answer whatever happened between Dewey [David Arquette] and Gale [Courteney Cox] … Sidney was in it, but it was more focused on Gale’s storyline.”

During a recent virtual reunion event, Williamson spoke about doing Craven proud with the new film.

“I had been really apprehensive about doing one of these films without Wes,” the writer noted. “The directors actually sent me a letter when the offer was sent and said the reason they are directors is because of Wes. So they’re even so honored to even be asked to make this film, and that they’re such huge fans of him and the films themselves, and of the cast, and that they really wanted to honor his voice, which I really, really believe they did.”

In addition to Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, and David Arquette, Scream will see the return of Scream 4’s Marley Shelton as Deputy Judy Hicks. Jack Quaid leads an extended roster of newcomers that will appear in the film alongside Melissa Barrera, Dylan Minnette, Jenna Ortega, Mason Gooding, Kyle Gallner, Jasmin Savoy Brown, and Mikey Madison.

What are your thoughts on the original idea for the new Scream? Do you wish Emma Roberts would have returned or do you prefer the new story? Tell us in the comments!

The new Scream is now playing in theaters.

Wilmington Star-News

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