Last year's "Scream" breathed new life into the long-running horror franchise, even as it took the lives of numerous characters in accordance with teen slasher tradition. Though it did bring back legacy faces like Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox), and Dewey Riley (David Arquette), it was the first "Scream" movie to be made without the involvement of Wes Craven, who directed the first four films but passed away in 2015.
Reviving Ghostface for a fifth round of meta-horror fun initially seemed like a dicey prospect (if you'll forgive the knife-edged pun), given that Craven was no longer with us and MTV and VH1 had somewhat diluted the "Scream" brand in the intervening years since "Scream 4." However, one key crew member who remained with the franchise was original screenwriter and series creator Kevin Williamson, who took on an executive producer role and will do so again for "Scream VI."
Williamson has another new horror movie, "Sick," debuting on Peacock this weekend; our review calls it "a well-made, well-executed, and smarty-written pandemic home invasion slasher that plays like 'The Strangers' for the COVID-19 era." While making the promotional rounds for "Sick" this week, Williamson also addressed the upcoming "Scream VI," giving it full-throated praise and telling Syfy Wire:
"It doesn't feel like 'Part 6,' it feels like you're watching this big, huge, fresh reinvention. I love, love, love, love it. I've watched the movie with a big smile on my face. I think it's everything and more. And going to New York was awesome. The movie feels new, it feels fresh, it feels like a new movie."
State Of The Scream Union
This section contains spoilers for the fifth "Scream" movie.
True to self-reflexive form, last year's "Scream" coined the term "requel" to refer to the Hollywood trend of legacy sequels — of which it was one. However, while the aforementioned characters Sidney, Gale, and Dewey might have been front and center on the movie poster, they and Billy Loomis, played by Skeet Ulrich (who returned in hallucination form) served principally as the elder statespeople of "Scream." The movie was more about the new, younger generation, led by Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega, Jack Quaid, and Jasmin Savoy Brown.
After five movies, Ghostface finally caught up with Dewey, so he won't be around for "Scream VI," and neither will Sidney, since the powers that be apparently lowballed Neve Campbell to the point where she turned down the offer to return as a matter of self-respect. That leaves only Gale, Hayden Panettiere's character Kirby from "Scream 4" (who was left out of the last movie but is finally back), along with returning requel-ers like Barrera, Ortega, and Savoy Brown, and new additions to the cast like Henry Czerny, Samara Weaving, and Tony Revolori.
Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin are back in the director's chair(s) for "Scream VI," and the movie will reunite them with Weaving from "Ready or Not." With all this young blood on hand and the movie headed to New York City (where other horror icons like the Babadook can be seen riding the train on Halloween), it's easy to see why Williamson might see "Scream VI" as a "big, huge, fresh reinvention" in terms of both cast and setting.
"Scream VI" slashes its way into theaters on March 10, 2023.
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