Scream Has Revealed The Returning Cast For Upcoming Sequel
Fresh meat!
We now know the fresh roster of victims for the upcoming Scream sequel, the follow-up to the reboot of the 1990s horror classic. Jamie Kennedy’s Randy would be proud, because Paramount is doing all it can to ensure it doesn’t suffer the common sequel pitfalls. Not have the director and screenwriters from this year’s Scream been tapped, but most of the surviving cast is back as well. The official Scream Twitter account, which often speaks as the Ghostface killer, celebrated the cast’s return in a tweet, proclaiming “They just can’t get enough of me.” Warning: some spoilers for the last film are about to follow!
Deadline confirmed that Spyglass Media and Paramount are bringing back the four key cast members, including Melissa Barrera (who played Sam, daughter to original Ghostface Billy Loomis) and Jenna Ortega (who played Sam’s sister Tara). Jasmin Savoy Brown (Mindy) and Mason Gooding (playing Mindy’s twin brother Chad) are also back for the sequel, which is fitting, as the characters are the children of Martha Meeks (Heather Matarazzo), the sister of Kennedy’s Randy character from the original film. Production begins this summer with a theatrical release scheduled for March 31, 2023. Despite a January release and a shortened theatrical run, Scream was a hit (at least by pandemic standards) with an $81 million domestic box office and a 76% “Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes. A sequel was announced in March in a tweet.
There is no announcement yet on the possible return of original cast members Neve Campbell and Courteney Cox, who managed to survive the last film. Campbell herself has downplayed the chances that she will return. During a February appearance at a horror convention, she stated that she might not return for a sixth Scream film. “There’s no script yet. There is a draft coming in soon is what I was told,” Campbell said during a Q&A. “Actually, I was supposed to call a producer yesterday, because he wanted to talk to me about what’s going on. You know, we’ll see. I’ll read the script and see how I feel.” Although having Campbell return would be a box office draw, it is very possible that the sequel will not include her or Cox, as the reboot was meant to “pass the torch” to a new generation of actors.
Not much is known about the plot of the sequel at this time. Producers have only said that the survivors of the most recent Ghostface massacre will leave Woodsboro for a new setting. Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (aka Radio Silence, the team responsible for Ready or Not and V/H/S) are returning to direct, and James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick are once again writing the screenplay.
Kevin Williamson, who wrote the original Scream films and is credited for its innovative, self-referential tone, will executive produce with Chad Villella, Gary Barber, Peter Oillataguerre, Ron Lynch, Cathy Konrad and Marianne Maddalena. The original Scream, released in 1996, was directed by Wes Craven (A Nightmare on Elm Street) and jump-started a new wave of modern horror films on its way to making over $100 million at the U.S. box office. Craven died in 2015, and the new film was dedicated to him. So far, the five Scream movies have grossed nearly $750 million worldwide.
