Fans are excited for the next upcoming film in the Scream franchise, which recently received its first official trailer. With so much hype for the upcoming horror film, however, many fans are beginning to ask one major question. Why isn’t the new Scream film titled Scream 5? After all, the trailer does indicate that the film maintains continuity with the prior four entries. Well, as it turns out, there is a reason for this. And it’s been explained by none other than original Scream screenwriter Kevin Williamson.
As fans know, aside from writing the original film, Kevin Williamson also wrote the sequels Scream 2 and Scream 4. He’s also an executive producer on the latest installment. As such, he’s a reliable authority on the subject, and his answer does make a lot of sense.
Here’s what Kevin Williamson stated while speaking with US Weekly about why the new Scream film isn’t called Scream 5:
“Well, it was always Scream 5 because it’s the fifth one,” Williamson explained. “So I think we just threw that name out, but I don’t think they ever seriously were going to call it a Scream 5. I don’t think anybody wanted to see the number five after something. You’d have to ask them – Paramount or whoever, but I think taking the 5 off and calling it Scream[works] because it’s brand new. There’s the legacy cast, and how they infuse this new world and there’s this whole new generation and a new cast of characters that are extremely fun. I think it was a great cast. It’s an amazing group of kids and young talent and they’re very, very good. They pop off the screen, and now our Sidney and our mature characters who enter into it, they’re the adults. It works really really well.”
It seems that although this is the fifth film in the original Scream continuity, they decided it was better to start things fresh with the title. After all, this new movie builds a new set of characters and storylines as opposed to focusing only on what’s come prior. This should definitely make things interesting and it seems to be the same path that the 2018 Halloween film and upcoming Texas Chainsaw Massacre film are also taking. Perhaps we can expect some kind of satire in the upcoming movie on this matter.
Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett directed Scream, taking over for the late Wes Craven who directed the original four films. James Vanderbilt wrote the script with Guy Busick. Original Scream screenwriter Kevin Williamson is executive producing alongside Chad Villella. Project X Entertainment’s James Vanderbilt, Paul Neinstein and William Sherak are serving as producers on the film.
The cast for Scream includes returning cast members David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Marley Shelton, and Roger L. Jackson. The new cast members include Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega, Jack Quaid, Mason Gooding, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Dylan Minnette, Mikey Madison, Sonia Ben Ammar and Kyle Gallner.
Scream is currently scheduled to hit theaters on January 14, 2022.