One of the creators of Scream has explained why the new sequel isn’t called Scream 5. Instead, the horror movie is using the original title, to reflect the soft reset of its premise.
Kevin Williamson, who’s written three of the previous four Scream movies, believes that Paramount wasn’t keen on the optics of using a five. To him, invoking the base name better reflects when the thriller movie is going for in terms of overarching narrative. “I don’t think they ever seriously were going to call it Scream 5. I don’t think anybody wanted to see the number five after something,” he tells Us Magazine. “I think taking the 5 off and calling it Scream [works] because it’s brand new.”
Several regulars to the franchise are returning, including Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, and David Arquette. However, Williamson says this is more about the new kids than the legacy cast. “It’s an amazing group of kids and young talent and they’re very, very good,” he states. “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.”
Re-using titles is a tradition in horror franchise. The Halloween movies recently did it to huge success, Final Destination has done it, Evil Dead has done it, Texas Chainsaw Massacre has done it multiple times. Confusing? Yes, but market savvy? Well, the numbers don’t lie.
We recently got the first trailer for Scream 2022, which re-introduced Campbell’s Sidney, and a host of the fresh blood for this installment. Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett are co-directing the film, from a script by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick.
Whatever the case, we’ll find out who our new Ghostface is, and what this all means for the future of the series, when Scream opens in theatres January 14, 2022.