Ghostface is back, keeping Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette on their toes for the highly-anticipated fifth installment in the Scream franchise.
The trailer for the latest chapter, simply titled Scream, dropped Tuesday, teasing the stars’ return with some fresh new faces. Newcomers Kyle Gallner, Mason Gooding, Mikey Madison, Dylan Minnette, Jenna Ortega, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Sonia Ammar, Jack Quaid and Melissa Barrera are all set to star, as well as Marley Shelton, who first appeared in 2011’s Scream 4 as Deputy Judy Hicks.
In the opening scene, Tara Carpenter (Ortega) gets some ominous texts before picking up her landline, to hear a spooky stranger ask “Would you like to play a game, Tara?” The doors of her house automatically unlock, before Ghostface himself ambushes her with a knife.
Reprising his role as Deputy Dewey Riley, Arquette gives Campbell, (back as Sidney Prescott), a call to warn her of the news.
“Three attacks so far. Do you have a gun?” he asks.
“I’m Sidney Prescott, of course I have a gun,” she replies.
Later, the teens realize that the attacker is targeting people related to the original killers — and team up to fight back.
In a change to the famous franchise, the reboot is also the first film not directed by horror master Wes Craven, who died of a brain tumor at age 76 in 2015.
Speaking to by Entertainment Weekly, Campbell said she was reassured by the new film’s directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (Ready or Not, V/H/S), who are longtime fans of Craven and screenwriter Kevin Williamson’s original creation.
“I genuinely was in two minds,” Campbell told EW. “The idea of making these films without Wes Craven seemed challenging to me. I loved the man very much. But Matt and Tyler wrote me a letter, speaking of their appreciation and great respect for Wes Craven, and speaking of the fact that the very reason that they are directors today was because of these movies and because of Wes, and that meant a great deal to me.”
Returning as cutthroat investigative journalist Gale Weathers, Cox also felt Craven’s absence on set, after they worked with him on the first four Scream films.
“From the second I walked on the set, I felt extremely emotional and felt a real missing and longing for him,” Cox said. “He had such [a] special, kind, and caring quality about him, not to mention his incredible talent as a filmmaker. I looked up to Wes immensely professionally but also as a friend. I feel Wes would be so happy with the way Matt and Tyler have rebooted this franchise.”
Arquette, who met his ex-wife and co-parent Cox on the set of 1996’s first installment, said that Craven’s presence was still felt.
“I’m not overly religious or anything, but I definitely was speaking to him, praying about it,” he mused. “It brought back a ton of memories of Wes, and that was emotional, you know, but it was beautiful. There were little signs. There were certain takes where the wind would blow, and, I don’t know, I just felt his energy.”
With Williamson serving as executive producer, the new movie is sure to remain true enough to the original for die-hard fans. “Knowing that Kevin Williamson was an executive producer on it set me at ease,” Arquette added. “He really knows the tone. I mean, he set the whole world up!”
See Campbell, Cox and Arquette in Scream, premiering in theaters January 14, 2022.
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