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.

Scream screenwriter Kevin Williamson encouraged directors of new sequel to take ‘big swings’

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The directors and executive producer of the horror franchise’s fifth installment tell EW about risk-taking and paying homage to Wes Craven.

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It is no real spoiler to say that the new Scream film (out in cinemas Jan. 14) takes big swings when it comes to some of the beloved franchise’s characters. Executive producer Chad Villella explains that the jaw-dropping turns were a crucial part of the original script, by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick.

“Those big swings were definitely present in the script,” says Villella. “As you’re getting closer and closer to production, and the rubber’s about to meet the road, everyone always voices their doubts and is like, ‘Oh, are we sure this the right choice?’ But for us, those swings, they’re so essential and so integral to what happens in the story. They’re really consequential. All of the really big turning points for us, they’re valuable to what the movie is and it just wouldn’t be the same experience if you removed them. It’s sort of a house of cards and really that is what was so clear to us about the script as we were reading it. We loved the risks that it took and wanted to make sure that we protected those at all costs.”

Co-director Matt Bettinelli-Olpin reveals that another of the new film’s executive producers, original Scream screenwriter Kevin Williamson, encouraged such risk-taking.

“There’s a swing in the movie that Kevin Williamson flagged in pre-production,” says Bettinelli-Olpin, a member of the Radio Silence collective along with his fellow Scream director Tyler Gillett and Villella. “[He said], ‘This is the only thing that doesn’t quite feel like it’s in a Scream movie, which is why I think it’s the absolute thing you need to make sure stays in the script.’”

Below, Bettinelli-Olpin, Gillett, and Villella talk about paying homage to Wes Craven (who directed the first four films in the series) and the future of the Scream franchise.

Scream 2022 Scream 2022 | Credit: BROWNIE HARRIS/ Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media Group

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: The new Scream has been getting great reactions. That must feel pretty good.

TYLER GILLETT: Yeah, I think it’s more than we ever expected. You always make something hoping that it connects with people and you’re white-knuckling it right up to the moment that people’s opinions are out in the world. We are beyond thrilled [about the reactions] and so excited for audiences now to get to have the experience.

Your 2019 movie Ready or Not was a success, but what was the process of auditioning for the Scream gig?

CHAD VILLELLA: Well, it’s funny you bring up Ready or Not because Ready or Not kind of was our audition. Working [on the film] with the team at Project X — William Sherak, Paul Neinstein, and James Vanderbilt — that was very nice and they brought us in to Gary Barber at Spyglass. They said, “We think you’re the guys to help us make this movie,” and we couldn’t be more thankful for them doing that.

Scream 2022 Scream 2022 | Credit: BROWNIE HARRIS/ Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media Group

What was it like reading the script? And how similar was that screenplay to what people will see in cinemas?

MATT BETTINELLI-OLPIN: We went in to read the script and we took probably two-and-a-half, three hours to do it, because it was so good and we didn’t want to miss anything. It read like you were seeing the movie in the most realistic way. What people will see is pretty much what was on the page then. We changed some things out of necessity, but at the end of the day, the script we read and the movie you’re seeing are very very similar. They really wrote a great script.

The movie goes deep in the weeds with the horror genre. I thought I was having a stroke when some characters started discussing “elevated horror.” It was like someone had scooped out my brain and put it on a screen.

GILLETT: That’s how we felt reading it. We’ve always been reticent to step into a franchise because it’s so hard to create new tracks in something, especially when it’s been done so successfully. Obviously, we’re fans of the original four movies and all of Wes’ work, there was a sort of added layer of pressure with this. So we went in to reading that script and we were so blown away by the multiple layers of commentary in the movie and how, like you said, it felt like Guy and Jamie were inside our brains. There were moments when we were literally cheering when we reading the script.

The Scream series has been very well curated over the years compared to some other franchises. Was that an advantage or did it make your mission more daunting?

VILLELLA: It was an absolute advantage dipping into the Scream lineage and the way that worlds were connected through all four films. The conversation we all had, and Guy and Jamie [dealt with] wonderfully in the script, was, what is it like ten years later? Like, let’s just go and lean into the real world of Woodsboro, and what it is like ten years later, and hopefully continue this wonderful storyline that Wes and Kevin Williamson created 25 years ago.

Scream 2022 Credit: BROWNIE HARRIS/ Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media Group

As Scream fans, what was it like to step on to set and find yourself directing Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott?

BETTINELLI-OLPIN: Surreal. Just very, very unbelievable. Neve was invaluable in the pre-production process, kind of keeping it within the guard rails of what Scream is. She had a lot of great thoughts that all got worked into the script. Then, on set, Neve, Courteney (Cox), David (Arquette), they really helped guide us along the way in terms of what it was like during the original movies. We tried very hard to kind of marry our process to the process that they all went through in the first four movies, with Wes Craven, and the father-like figure that he was on set.

The new Scream is dedicated to Wes. Could you talk about how you pay homage to him in the film?

BETTINELLI-OLPIN: Our starting point was this has to be, on some level, a love letter to Wes Craven, Scream, and his other work. I would say throughout the making of the movie and within the finished product itself there’s so many little nods to Wes, there’s big nods to Wes. At the end of the day, the entire thing is ultimately a love letter to Wes from us. He’s one of the greatest directors, period, of his generation. To go into the movie already as fans, I think we all came out on the other side even bigger fans because we’ve gotten to know people [who knew him]. Everything we’ve heard and everyone we talked to about him has just been, he was the nicest, most supportive, loving man. So it’s daunting to pick up where he left off on Scream but it also was a real blessing for us.

Would you gentlemen be up for making another Scream film?

VILLELLA: I mean, we love Scream. This is why we’re filmmakers, we love being a part of this franchise. If everyone decides to have us back we would happily talk about the story and where it could possibly go.

This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.

Watch the trailer for the new Scream film below.

For interviews with cast and crew, behind-the-scenes tidbits and photos, and much more, pick up a copy of Entertainment Weekly’s Guide to Scream, available online or wherever magazines are sold.

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Everything we know about the fifth ‘Scream’ movie, starring Courteney Cox, David Arquette, and Neve Campbell

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The upcoming film will feature a mix of familiar and new characters.

Parker Posey, Courteney Cox Arquette, and David Arquette in Wes Craven’s “Scream 3.” Joseph Viles/Dimension Films/Getty

Franchise stars David Arquette, Courteney Cox, and Neve Campbell (who played Dewey, Gale, and Sidney in all four previous “Scream” films) will reprise their roles in the upcoming movie.

But there’s plenty of newcomers in the new “Scream” as well, including Marley Shelton, Melissa Barrera, Mikey Madison, Dylan Minnette, Jenna Ortega, and Jasmin Savoy Brown.

Shelton appeared in “Scream 4,” Barrera recently starred in “In the Heights,” and Brown is currently playing a young Taissa Turner on Showtime’s “Yellowjackets.” Madison, Minette, and Ortega have had roles on “Better Things,” “13 Reasons Why,” and “You,” respectively.

‘Scream 5’ Interviews With Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Jack Quaid & More!

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Corey was born and raised in New Jersey. Double majored in theater and literature during undergrad. After working in administrative theater for a year in New York, he started as the Weekend Editor at CinemaBend. He’s since been able to work himself up to reviews, phoners, and press junkets– and is now able to appear on camera with some of his famous actors… just not as he would have predicted as a kid.

25 Secrets About Scream Revealed

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Screenwriter Kevin Williamson came up with the idea for the movie while watching a 1994 episode of ABC News’ Turning Point about the serial killer dubbed the Gainesville Ripper. House-sitting at the time, Williamson was spooked when he saw a window was open that he was convinced he had closed.
The script caused a bidding war in Hollywood, with Dimension ultimately landing the movie. But finding a director proved to be an unexpected challenge before horror legend Wes Craven signed on after initially passing on the project.

“Every name you could imagine came up [to direct],” Williamson told The Ringer. “Wes’s name came up really early. Robert Rodriguez’s name came up. Quentin Tarantino’s name came up.”

Ultimately, it was Craven’s then-assistant Julie Plec, who would go on to co-create The Vampire Diaries among other TV hits, who helped convince him to return to the genre after the filmmaker’s New Nightmare failed to perform at the box office.

“At the time I was working at Wes’s house, so I would have lunch with him every day. And so I said, ‘Remember that great script? They’re having a hard time finding a director and they really want you to do it,’” Plec recalled to The Ringer. “I was just kind of making quote-unquote innocent small talk. And he said, ‘Ah, well they should just make me an offer I can’t refuse then.’ And I think he was joking, but I went back to [director of development] Lisa [Harrison] and I said, ‘He said make him an offer he can’t refuse.’ And so Dimension did. And he took it.”

The original title was Scary Movie, with the studio deciding to change it to Scream after production had wrapped, much to the creative team’s initial dismay.

‘[Scary Movie] was on all our wrap gifts and all our fanny packs," Plec told The Ringer. “They wanted it to be Scream and we were like, ‘That’s terrible.’ We were all outraged. Turned out to be a good choice.