The horror genre has been experiencing a renaissance for years now, to the joy of fans. As a result, some of the best horror movies have returned to theaters with new sequels, including Wes Craven’s Scream. Yet another sequel was quickly greenlit, although it’ll be the first without franchise hero Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott. And Scream’s creator Kevin Williamson recently explained why the slasher franchise can continue after the upcoming sixth movie.
Kevin Williamson was the writer and creator of the original Scream movie, working with the great Wes Craven to bring new life into the slasher genre. He’s an executive producer on the latest two movies including Scream 6, and recently spoke to the franchise’s potential future in an interview with Collider. When asked if he thought the property could live in forever, he said:
Yes. At first I might have felt the opposite of that. Now since I’ve been proven wrong repeatedly and this last Scream was such a pleasure. I think one of the wonderful things about Scream is that there’s a different killer in every film. In movies like Halloween and Friday the 13th there’s Jason, there’s Michael, there’s Freddy. They don’t go away. And Ghostface changes with every movie, so we have an opportunity to change the motive, change the story, and we can always twist and turn it. And it’s set up to be this game changer all along, so the trick is how do we keep game changing? And I think this new team that I’m working with are awesome.
Points were made. Because while the Scream movies always have a killer or two rocking the Ghostface mask, there’s always different people in that costume. Each has their own motivations, which offers the opportunity for filmmakers to innovate. And as such, Kevin Williamson doesn’t think that the franchise is going anywhere.
Kevin Williamson’s comments come from his recent appearance at the Toronto International Film Festival promoting his upcoming new slasher movie Sick. Eventually the conversation turned to the beloved Scream movies, which he continues to be involved with. And while he admits he wasn’t originally sure about how long Scream could go on, he now thinks it’s got a seemingly endless life in theaters.
This update is sure to be thrilling for the generations of Scream fans out there. The 1996 original movie changed the horror genre forever, and the property remains deeply connected to pop culture as a whole. While there’s been years without a new Ghostface massacre, the metatheatrical nature of the property should allow it to thrive regardless. And as such, the property should be able to change as the genre as a whole does. Plus he seems to have faith in the filmmaker duo Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett who are the directors behind the two most recent movies.
The upcoming sixth Scream movie is certainly breaking new ground, as it won’t include Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott. The movie is also moving from Woodsboro to New York City, so there’s plenty of intriguing firsts. Luckily Courteney Cox will be back as Gale, and Scream 4’s Hayden Panettiere is finally returning as Kirby Reed.
Scream 6 is currently expected to arrive in theaters on March 31st, 2022. In the meantime, check out the 2022 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience.