The meta horror franchise Scream is confirmed to return to the big screen for a fifth installment. But nine years later does anyone really care?
Our boy Ghostface is set to return. Why? Well just to, you know, stab some more people in Scream 5, which is officially moving forward in production.
Ready Or Not directors Matthew Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett are attached to direct the film, taking up the torch after the late Wes Craven, who directed the previous four films. The franchise was created by screenwriter Kevin Williamson, who satirised the horror genre in his original screenplay. In the first film, we were introduced to Williamson’s characters who know all too well about the tropes of real-life horror movies. At the time of the film’s release, it was seen as an excellent play on the horror genre for its subversive ‘meta’ humour and was considered a turning point for horror films.
The sequels followed the first film in a similar fashion. Scream 2 was another critical and box office success that lived up to the first, however, that’s just about where that ends. The franchise started to lose its way after the third film, as Scream 3 and 4 were… just not as good.
So, What Will Scream 5 Be Like?
It wouldn’t be completely true to say that audiences are growing weary of horror films; in fact, I’d say the genre is making a comeback. In recent years, horror films like Get Out, A Quiet Place and Ready or Not are some of many that have proven the genre is still worthy of innovation.
Having said that, it’s still hard to predict who will and won’t show up to watch Scream 5. For starters, it’s been nine years since the fourth film. More recently, there was also the Scream TV series, which, let’s be honest, no one watched. It would be a fair-call to look at what they’re doing now and think they’re just milking it at this stage.
The rights of the franchise were recently acquired by Spyglass Media Group, so at the same time, it’s only logical that they’d try to do something with it. Considering how early on they are in the production stage, there are very few details on the new project, which they’re probably still figuring out themselves.
So where could the franchise possibly go next? Again, we’re unclear as to whether the next film will be a direct sequel to Scream 4, or more of a reboot of the franchise. We don’t even know if Neve Campbell, David Arquette, or Courteney Cox will reprise their roles. My prediction is that it’ll be focused on a newer generation of characters – in a similar way to Scream 4 – with some of the original characters returning, if we’re lucky.
The Scream films combine horror and dark comedy to stay self-aware, while defying popular movie trends. If the new Scream manages to keep on top of the latest horror flicks and bring back the essence of what made the first two films so great, then I’m open to it being a good film… whether it needed to be made or not.
And now at least horror fans have something to look forward to.
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