The original ‘Scream’, directed by horror master Wes Craven and written by Kevin Williamson, hit movie theaters in 1996 and revolutionized the slasher form.
Its giddy self-awareness of its genre was a breath of fresh, blood-soaked air after a cavalcade of inane ‘Halloween’ and ‘Friday the 13th’ sequels had drained slasher movies of all signs of life.
Now, 25 years and three sequels later, and for the first time without the brilliance of late director Wes Craven and sans writer Kevin Williamson, ‘Scream’ is back to take another stab at the box office.
The original was a box-office bonanza, bringing in $173 million on a measly $14 million budget. Not surprisingly, over time, the budgets for the sequels grew and the box-office haul shrunk, with the most recent film, ‘Scream 4’, bringing in $97 million on a $40 million budget.
This new ‘Scream’, which is written by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick and directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, has a manageable budget of $24 million, and in spite of potential audience hesitancy born of the Omicron surge, hopes to be the first blockbuster of 2022. There’s a very strong possibility it earns enough in its opening weekend to be the first film to knock the juggernaut ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ off the top spot in the weekend box office for the first time in a month.
‘Scream’ defines itself through its formula of slasher-movie self-awareness as neither a reboot nor a sequel, but a “requel.” It features fresh new characters, but also connects back to the original movie so as to revitalize the franchise.
Back in supporting roles for the fifth installment of the franchise are original cast members Neve Campbell, David Arquette, and Courtney Cox, reprising their roles as Sidney Prescott, Dewey Riley, and Gale Weathers respectively.
They join the main cast of ‘Scream’ newcomers, including star Melissa Barrera as Samantha Carpenter, Jack Quaid as Samantha’s boyfriend Richie, Jenna Ortega as Samantha’s sister Tara, Mikey Madison as Amber and Dylan Minnette as Wes, among others.
The storyline is like that of all the other Scream movies. In the unfortunate town of Westboro, there’s a killer on the loose targeting a group of friends. He dons a ghost face mask and torments his victims before brutally stabbing them to death.