It took a long time for a fifth installment of the Scream franchise to materialize, and with the death of Wes Craven in 2015 it seemed that it may not happen at all, but in January Scream will be slashing its way back into cinemas and co-director Tyler Gillett has already suggested that it won’t be the last time we see Ghostface. A decade on from Scream 4, the new entry combines characters from the original movie with a host of new younger ones who are essentially like lambs to the slaughter, and being the first movie without Craven in the director’s chair, the film has a lot to do to please fans.
The passing of Wes Craven was always going to be one of the biggest stumbling blocks in any revival of the iconic directors most loved works, such as Scream and A Nightmare on Elm Street, and when it came to the new Scream movie, even some of the actors were dubious about continuing on without his guidance. However, after some work by Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin to reassure both those actors and fans that the new movie would not just be a cash-grab rehash of the original but would both honor the director’s previous films and create a whole new story around it, the film that over a decade ago Craven himself said would happen is happening.
Even before the movie has been seen by anyone, Gillett has already been teasing the possibility of more to come in the future. In an interview with Total Film, he explained how the characters created by Craven combined with the new additions have brought such a strong story to life that there is definitely “more gas in the tank” for future sequels.
“This new cast of characters is so wonderful. The legacy cast, they’re so wonderful. I think what we discovered, and what [screenwriters] Guy [Busick] and James [Vanderbilt] did, is they found a real reason for the next story to exist. We know that there is more gas in the tank. There are more stories to be told in Woodsboro, and about these characters, for sure.”
The biggest trick is going to be justifying additional sequels that actually add something to the franchise rather than just descending into a mess of repetitive and unnecessary reasons to put out yet another film with the Scream name. It could be argued that many horror based franchises are the based on that repetitive nature, as even the Scream franchise essentially told its story back in 1996, but fans have been more than happy to return to discover what new scares await the characters they have grown to love and care about over the years.
While many returning franchises promise something new, from what we know so far, Scream could well deliver a long-awaited treat for fans. The most important thing for this movie is to not do anything to damage the legacy that Wes Craven left, and in that at least it seems to be making a conscious effort to succeed. Where it can go from here in the same timeline is unclear, but if this turns out to be the last time we see the legacy cast in the series, there is no doubt that someone will be considering a reboot at some point.
This news comes from Total Film magazine with the transcription above provided by Hello Sidney.
Source: movieweb.com