The survivors of last year’s (pretty great!) Scream legacy sequel/requel have made it out of Woodsboro and to the city that never sleeps. But an unwanted, if not unexpected, hanger-on is about to take a bite out of their Big Apple experience: who’s the next killer(s??) behind the Ghostface mask?
Scream VI, the sixth entry in the iconic slasher series birthed by late horror legend Wes Craven and writer Kevin Williamson, hits cinema soon. Here’s everything you need to know about the fresh and familiar faces in the cast, how the movie might connect to one of its greatest previous entries, and what’s next for the franchise. Be warned: slashy spoilers for previous films in the franchise lie in wait.
1. There’s heaps of returning characters, and this clever poster could be a clue
From the above trailer, it seems Ghostface is slaying his way around New York City via the famed subway system. And the below teaser poster takes that idea to its logical, very visually pleasing conclusion, charting out a subway map with lines representing each film in the Scream series. Each stop is a victim or killer that gets got across each movie, with Melissa Barrera’s new protagonist Sam highlighted right up top.
My New Year’s resolution? Travel more. #ScreamVI pic.twitter.com/61WS9X66bF
— Scream (@ScreamMovies) January 1, 2023
If you’ve already seen Scream 5, you’ll know she’s the illegitimate daughter of the killer in the original film, Billy Loomis. Is she marked here as the next Ghostface’s prime target…or as the newest incarnation of the cloaked murderer?
2. …but leaked info about the killers is already out there: stay alert
Twitter is full of Scream fans screaming bloody murder about leaks from the film’s earliest screenings. So beware when you’re looking up more info about this next chapter, as it seems shady, unconfirmed info about who dies and who kills is already out there!
The hashtag is mostly made up of spoiler-ed folks getting the big mystery ruined for them, but also some voices saying that the leaks are probably misleading, and perhaps even planted by the filmmakers to throw any wannabe sleuths off the scent. If so, that’s damn wily of them.
3. Jenna Ortega says to expect a more “aggressive and violent” Ghostface
Ortega is kind of second banana in these latest Scream films, victimized in Scream 5‘s opening scene à la Drew Barrymore and then stuck in a hospital for the rest of the movie. But as we’re approaching her next turn as Sam’s sister Tara, she’s had a mighty leap in the fame game stakes after playing another ghoulish gal in Netflix’s Wednesday.
Back in June last year, Ortega told ET she’d “just read part of the script, and it just gets more and more gory. I think that this is probably the most aggressive and violent version of Ghostface we’ve ever seen, which I think will really be fun to shoot.” That’s really saying something, as our review of the previous film considered its scenes of violence and knifeplay “genuinely disturbing” enough already.
4. Ghostface seems to be slaying in plain sight again, à la Scream 2‘s opening scene
Right from its barebones title, Scream (2022) aimed to be a clean-slate “requel” of 1996’s Scream just as much as it was a legacy sequel. We can see that Scream 6‘s Ghostface isn’t a very private guy, attacking his victims in public spots such as bodegas, subway carriages, and the gritty streets of NYC.
Perhaps that means this sequel is aligning itself with the awesome Scream 2, which opened with a terrific scene of Jada Pinkett Smith being murdered in front of an oblivious cinema audience. Likewise, Scream VI takes its teens out of Woodsboro and into a larger, more populous setting, just as Scream 2 was set at the gang’s Ohio university.
5. Courtney Cox is getting a star on the Walk of Fame, just in time for the premiere
The 2,750th concrete star on Hollywood Boulevard is devoted to the Friends actor, with her ol’ buddies Jennifer Aniston and Lisa Kudrow guest speaking alongside Laura Dern (huh, didn’t know they were mates) at the celebration. Neither of her Scream co-stars Neve Campbell or David Arquette (also her ex-husband) have one of these lil pavement plaques. But did you know there might be a valid money-saving reason for that? Whatever entity nominates a celeb to get a star must pay a fee of $50,000 for its ceremonial laying and upkeep. Whew.
6. It’s the first Scream film without Neve Campbell as Sidney :(
Sidney Prescott is Scream: the franchise’s beating heart, and the ultimate unkillable final girl. It’s a real shame that Paramount couldn’t settle a controversial salary dispute with Neve Campbell to include her in this latest film, forcing her to sadly announce to fans that she “felt the offer that was presented to me did not equate to the value I have brought to the franchise.”
“As a woman I have had to work extremely hard in my career to establish my value, especially when it comes to Scream“, she continued. “To all my Scream fans, I love you. I’m forever grateful to you and to what this franchise has given me over the past 25 years.” Original movie bad-guy and real-world good-guy Matthew Lillard was quick to defend Campbell’s choice via Twitter, too.
The fact that Neve Campbell isn’t getting paid her worth is straight up sexism. I think it’s horrible. There. I said it. #Scream6 #scream #NeveCampbell #OG https://t.co/ge6FD87Soq
— matthew lillard —Will block. 0-F’s-given (@MatthewLillard) June 12, 2022
7. New friends/victims include Tony Revolori and scream queen Samara Weaving
You’ll best recognise Revolori as the meek lobby boy Zero in The Grand Budapest Hotel, and Weaving is steadily becoming a horror name thanks to roles in The Babysitter and Ready or Not. The directors of that latter movie did such a sweet job with Scream (2022), it seems they’re bringing her on as a kind of good-luck charm for this next one.
8. Hayden Panettiere’s fan fave Kirby is another familiar face
The final Scream movie directed by late horror great Wes Craven, Scream 4 was a little misunderstood upon release, with his death and the film’s reception resulting in the 11-year wait for another franchise entry. One shining light of Scream 4 was Hayden Panettiere’s steely cool-girl Kirby, the kind of character who’s always way more interesting than their main character bestie.
Sure, she was left bleeding out by said bestie’s sadistic scheming at the end of the film, but not mortally, it seems. The Heroes actor is confirmed to appear in Scream VI, and we really hope she gets a happier, somewhat more conclusive ending this time around.
If they bring Kirby back in Scream 6 just to kill her like they did Judy… pic.twitter.com/NMv3hFGmz8
— Friendly Neighbourhood Thot Pocket (@thotpocket8) May 12, 2022
9. Demi Lovato has recorded a killer new track to celebrate Scream VI
Former Disney Channel star Lovato has come a long way from her kid-friendly roots, and penning a pop song for one of the horror genre’s most enduringly popular franchises is a clever move. We don’t know how her new tune “Still Alive” sounds just yet—is it a crunchy, violent pop bop or an eerie, mournful ballad?—but at least we can watch her get jump-scared by Ghostface (revealed to be cast member Mason Gooding, who plays Chad) in the cute promo clip below.
To celebrate @ddlovato being on the #ScreamVI soundtrack, we had a killer surprise for her.
Pre-save the new single “Still Alive” now. Out 3.3.23. https://t.co/EB3QCafDor pic.twitter.com/BqmutoM46A— Scream (@ScreamMovies) February 17, 2023
10. The Ready or Not guys are back behind the camera again
The filmmaking trio known as Radio Silence are busy, busy boys these days. Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett and their producer buddy Chad Villella have been responsible for a slew of anthology movie segments in the V/H/S series and the spooky Southbound, and then their horror breakout Ready or Not, which earned them the helm of Scream 5 and 6. They’re even lined up to remake Escape From New York sometime soon, tackling another horror legend John Carpenter’s legacy.
Original Scream screenwriter Kevin Williamson still gets a “based on characters created by” credit on the newer films, of course, and provides an experienced helping hand as executive producer.
11. The sixth film was announced while the fifth was still in cinemas
Only a month after the release of Scream (2022), Paramount had already sent Radio Silence off to work on the next chapter in the franchise’s latest incarnation. Two Scream films in two years? What a neat gift, aaalmost repaying fans with the $100+million they put up for the last film’s worldwide gross.
12. So should we get our knives out to dig into Scream 7 already?
It seems that this nasty new version of Ghostface is on a bit of a roll, then, and with Neve Campbell not signed up for chapter six, surely there’s a chapter seven in the works to bring the whole OG squad back together at least one more time.
Alas, the Scream franchise has never successfully hit us with the kind of cliffhanger ending that could definitively lead into Scream 7. Scream 4‘s suggestion that the killer has survived to slay another day went unresolved, so it’ll be a bold move if Scream VI opens its ending up to another instalment. Following on from that quick announcement post-Scream 5, maybe let’s wait a month and see what the team has to say. In the meantime, why don’t you put your feet up, turn off your phone, and fill out this cute crossword puzzle?
Would you like to play a game, @NYTGames? #ScreamVI pic.twitter.com/ul8NRCc0pX
— Scream (@ScreamMovies) January 15, 2023
Eat your heart out, New York Times. And if you don’t, Ghostface might just cut it out for you.
