“Scream”, using the term coined in the film, is a requel. It is a soft relaunch of the film series and a sequel to “Scream 4”.
So let’s dive into some trivia and facts about the film.
- Scream is a 2022 American slasher film
- It is also informally known as Scream 5
- The film is directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett
- It is written by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick
- It is the fifth installment in the Scream film series
- Though it is billed as a relaunch of the film series
- The film is a direct sequel to Scream 4 (2011)
- It is the first in the series not to be directed by Wes Craven
- Craven died in 2015 and to whom the film is dedicated
- The film stars franchise veterans David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox
- And newcomers Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega, Jack Quaid, Dylan Minnette, Mason Gooding, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mikey Madison and Sonia Ben Ammar
- Marley Shelton, Skeet Ulrich, Heather Matarazzo, and Roger L. Jackson reprising their roles from previous installments
- In this film, a new killer has donned the Ghostface mask and begins targeting a group of teenagers to resurrect secrets from the town’s deadly past.
- Although fifth and sixth Scream installments were discussed after the release of Scream 4 in 2011, Craven, writer Kevin Williamson, and executive producer Harvey Weinstein all cast doubts on their likelihood following the less-than-expected box office performance of the fourth film
- A Scream television series was then produced
- The series aired on MTV from 2015 to 2016 across two seasons, with a third season airing on VH1 in July 2019
- After the 2017 sexual assault allegations against Weinstein and the closure of The Weinstein Company, the rights to the Scream franchise were acquired by Spyglass Media Group in November 2019, who confirmed a new film would be made
- The following year, Williamson, who was returning as an executive producer, confirmed the film would not be a reboot, and Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett were hired to direct in March 2020
- Campbell and Arquette were confirmed to be returning later that month, with Cox and the new cast members joining throughout the summer
- After production was delayed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, filming took place from September through November 2020 in North Carolina
- To avoid story leaks, numerous versions of the screenplay were produced and several additional scenes were filmed
- Scream was theatrically released in the United States on January 14, 2022, by Paramount Pictures
- The film received mixed to positive reviews with praise directed at the performances and scares
- It was criticized for it’s fanservice
- The film was released on January 14, 2022, by Paramount Pictures
- The film’s red carpet premiere was scheduled for January 11, 2022
- It was canceled due to the extended COVID-19 pandemic and rise of the Omicron variant
- In the United States and Canada, Scream is projected to gross at least $20 million from 3,661 theaters over its four-day opening weekend, which includes the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday
- Variety and Comscore both predicted a $25 to $30 million opening
- Boxoffice Pro projects a $28 to 39 million four-day opening, factoring in positive word-of-mouth, young viewers being part of the target audience, theatrical exclusivity, ticket pre-sales and social media buzz, and the film serving as a revival to a well-known franchise
- The film earned approximately $3.5 million from Thursday night previews
- It was $2.5 million more than the $1 million that Scream 4 made from midnight previews in 2011
- On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 76% rating
- Based on 175 reviews
- With an average rating of 6.6/10
- The website’s critical consensus reads, “The fifth Scream finds the franchise working harder than ever to maintain its meta edge – and succeeding surprisingly often”
- Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 61 out of 100
- Based on 43 critics
- Indicating “generally favorable reviews”
- Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of “B+” on an A+ to F scale
- Campbell and the film’s directors have expressed interest in making future films in the series
- In 2011, Wes Craven confirmed he was contracted to work on a fifth and sixth installment of the Scream franchise, to be made if the fourth film achieved a successful release and reception
- Following difficulties with script rewrites on Scream 2, Scream 3, and Scream 4, often with pages only being ready on the day of filming, and the related stress of the situation
- Craven stated that he would need to see a finalized version of a script for Scream 5 before committing to the production
- Williamson also confirmed he had contractual obligations for scripts for Scream 4 and Scream 5, having submitted concepts for three films leading up to Scream 6
- Though his contract for the sixth film had not yet been finalized
- Williamson indicated that if a Scream 5 were to be made, it would be a continuation of the story of the characters who lived through Scream 4 but that Scream 4 would not include any cliffhangers that led into the potential sequel
- Before the release of Scream 4, actor David Arquette also supported a potential future of the franchise
- On September 30, 2013, Harvey Weinstein expressed his interest in a fifth installment
- In July 2014, Williamson expressed doubt on a fifth film happening, saying “I guess Scream 4 never took off in a way they hoped”
- He also elaborated on his departure from the series as Craven and his team were “done with him”
- On June 25, 2015, the Wall Street Journal conducted an interview with Bob Weinstein
- When asked about the possibility of a film continuation after Scream 4, Weinstein firmly denied the possibility of a fifth installment or any further continuation of the film franchise
- Citing the MTV television series as the right place for the franchise to find new life
- Following the closure of The Weinstein Company in the wake of numerous sexual misconduct allegations against Harvey Weinstein, the fate of the Scream franchise was in limbo
- In early 2019, reports began to circulate that Blumhouse Productions, which specializes in horror-themed films, was interested in reviving the series
- Studio head Jason Blum was working on making such Scream installments happen
- These reports were confirmed to be false
- In November 2019, Spyglass Media Group acquired the rights to make a new Scream film
- It was unknown at the time if it would be a sequel, reboot, or remake. It was also unknown if Williamson would return
- The next month, it was announced that the film would feature a new cast but could possibly feature appearances from previous main cast members
- On November 18, 2020, Kevin Williamson revealed that the film’s official title is Scream
- In March 2020, it was announced that Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett would direct the fifth installment
- With Kevin Williamson serving as an executive producer
- And that the film had already entered official development, with filming planned to begin in May 2020
- In May 2020, it was announced that Neve Campbell was in talks to reprise her role as Sidney Prescott in the film
- That same month, it was announced David Arquette would be reprising his role of Dewey Riley
- James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick were announced as screenwriters
- It was also confirmed that the film would begin production later in the year in Wilmington, North Carolina, when safety protocols to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic were in place
- In June 2020, Variety reported that the film was set to be distributed by Paramount Pictures and was initially aiming for a 2021 release
- This would be 25 years since the first movie was released in 1996
- Variety also noted that it was still not known if Courteney Cox or Campbell, or any other legacy actors other than Arquette, would reprise their roles
- On July 31, 2020, Cox posted a video to her official Instagram account, confirming her return to the franchise for the fifth installment
- The news was then confirmed by various other outlets
- In August 2020, Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega were cast in undisclosed roles
- In the same month, Paramount Pictures announced that the film was scheduled to be released on January 14, 2022, having been delayed from its original 2021 tentative release due to the COVID-19 pandemic
- In September 2020, Jack Quaid joined the cast in an undisclosed role
- In the same month, it was confirmed that Neve Campbell, Marley Shelton, and Roger L. Jackson would return to reprise their roles, with Dylan Minnette, Mason Gooding, Kyle Gallner, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mikey Madison, and Sonia Ben Ammar joining the cast
- Skeet Ulrich additionally reprises his role as Billy Loomis, for the first time since Scream (1996)
- Principal photography was originally scheduled to begin in Wilmington, North Carolina, in May 2020, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic
- Filming instead began on September 23, 2020
- Filming took place across several avenues in Wilmington, including exterior shots of Williston Middle School and interior shots of Cardinal Lanes Shipyard and 10th Street (between Ann and Castle streets)
- The film was awarded $7 million in rebates by the North Carolina Film Office
- Filming wrapped on November 17, 2020
- The existence of not only multiple versions of the film’s screenplay but also multiple filmed scenes, to avoid details of the actual storyline being leaked before the film’s release, was confirmed in April 2021
- During the post-production stage, Michel Aller served as the primary editor for the film
- Post-production on the film was completed by July 7, 2021
- On May 12, 2021, it was confirmed that Brian Tyler would score the soundtrack for the film
- Tyler had previously worked with Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett on Ready or Not (2019), and would be replacing Marco Beltrami, who composed the score for the previous four films
- The soundtrack album was released on January 7, 2022, by Varèse Sarabande
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