The sinister slasher-mystery world of Scream returns early next year with the fifth film in the super-bloody, mega-stabby, meta-horror franchise.
With the simple, clean title of Scream — which was purposefully done to harken back to the spirit of the original — this new wicked Woodsboro tale is being helmed by Ready or Not's Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, and will feature legacy stars Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, and David Arquette reprising their iconic Scream franchise roles.
Now that the new trailer has dropped, you can also check out what David Arquette and some of the other cast members — like Jack Quaid (The Boys), Melissa Barrera (In the Heights), and Jasmin Savoy Brown (The Leftovers, Spider-Man: Miles Morales) — told us about working on this brand-new legacy sequel, which serves as both a continuation and a reboot, designed to deliver thrills to both old and new fans alike.
Watch the Scream (2022) trailer here…
Arquette was overjoyed to play Dewey Riley again, who we last saw as the Sheriff of Woodsboro in 2011's Scream 4. "We all want to do our characters justice," he said, speaking for his fellow legacy stars. "You know, it's really fun to play this character and to step back into his shoes. Even though this is a new group, it feels very much like we're in the same world."
"I think the whole world of storytelling has gotten smarter," Arquette added. "People have a real deep love of history like this film has. It will take you back to the feeling you had when you saw the first one. At least it's doing that for me. Because you want to respect the world that Wes [Craven] created with [writer] Kevin Williamson and be able to expand on it with this new generation. Jenna [Ortega] and Melissa [Barrera] are tremendous actors. Jack Quaid – I knew him as a little kid, just running around, and now he's this young man who's super talented and witty. There are so many talented young people on this film. I love watching them watch horror films and doing their homework on the genres. I think the fans are really going to love this because it's a fan's movie."
With Scream movie scribe Kevin Williamson acting as executive producer for a script by James Vanderbilt (Ready or Not), Scream is here to honor the past while also forging the future. "The filmmakers were very specific about honoring the history of the series," Arquette said. "Tyler [Gillett] and Matt [Bettinelli-Olpin] are such incredible directors. They were inspired by Wes [Craven] growing up. It's just been this incredible experience watching these young actors and seeing them at a similar age to when I did my first Scream. There's a lot of heart involved with it."
Neve, Courtney, and David aren't they only returning Scream stars, however. That's right, Scream 4's Marley Shelton, who played Deputy Judy Hicks, is also back. "This is the first opportunity I've had in my career to reprise a role," Shelton told us, "which is such a cool honor and a privilege – not to mention just a really exciting acting task. Deputy Judy Hicks is now Sheriff Judy Hicks, and she also has a teenage son in this one, played by Dylan Minnette, who is awesome. So there might be some interesting plot twists with that."
Watch the original Scream trailer from 1996 here:
Shelton feels very fortunate to have Judy Hicks back in her life, but also promises that Judy may have some new shades to share. "I think Judy is always going to be intrinsically 'sunny side up' Judy, but there have been some life turns that I think everyone's going to get a kick out of. Some relationship turns that have definitely affected her. But she's still very much Judy Hicks," she says.
Shelton also explained that 2022's Scream has "all the marks of what makes a vintage Scream movie, but at the same time it's very fresh and there's a lot of newness. It's not just an iteration of something we've seen in the past."
Members of the new cast share the sentiment too, while also acknowledging the pressure of starring in such a long-running and cared-for franchise. "There so much pressure, so much excitement, so much nervousness," Melissa Barrera (who plays Sam Carpenter) explained. "I'm very honored and very excited to be a part of this. It's a dream come true. I'm a fan of the original movies and I grew up watching them and so it feels like a dream. It's unbelievable."
"One of the cool things about this is it doesn't mess with the original in any way," Kyle Gallner (Veronica Mars), who plays Vince, said. "It doesn't mess with the previous four. It really does just pick up kind of where the story left off years down the road, and what I really like about it is when I read the script it captured the vibe of what was special about the first film when it came out at the time. It's not a copycat in any way but it mirrored and echoed a lot of the feelings I had when I watched the first film."
Jack Quaid also felt a few butterflies when joining the project. "I was super nervous because it's a beloved franchise and the expectations are very high," he said, "but I do think we're in really good hands with our directors Matt and Tyler. They were just incredible and also set a very good tone on set. And off the set too."
Jasmin Savoy Brown, who plays a character named Mindy in the film, mentioned how much she appreciated Gillett and Bettinelli-Olpin's collaborative energy. "One of the first things they said was, 'We want you to participate fully in creating this character and creating this world. So any thoughts you have or anything that is important to you as a person or anything you want to be a part of your character, let us know and we'll make it happen.' And that's often not the case with directors, so that made me feel very loved and welcomed."
Scream premieres in U.S. theaters on January 22, 2022.