The hype train is fully boarded ahead of the official premiere of Scream VI in theaters this week. The upcoming sixth installment of the long-standing horror franchise is set to showcase a plethora of familiar faces — both old and new — that add a certain intriguing element to the narrative. One of those faces, of course, is the return of Hayden Panettiere’s fan-favorite character Kirby Reed, who first lit the franchise on fire back in 2011 with her debut in Scream 4.
Flash forward over a decade later, and Kirby Reed’s long-awaited return to the film series has the entire internet in shambles (in a good way, of course). This excitement has since increased tenfold after Panettiere revealed in an interview with GMA that a deeper connection between Kirby Reed and Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera) might surprise the collective fandom. This connection hints at the possibility of Reed and Carpenter knowing each other when they were younger — way before the events in Scream VI unfold.
In the aforementioned interview, Panettiere insisted that the duo share a particular history with each other — which has convinced most fans of the fact that Kirby and Sam likely went to high school together. Another theory has hinted that both Kirby and Sam might have dated Richie Kirsch — who is Sam’s ex-boyfriend and one of the killers in Scream (2022).
The truth to the pair’s connection will undoubtedly be revealed during the events of the movie, but with both characters hailing from Woodsboro and around the same age, it wouldn’t come as a surprise to know that there’s history buried beneath the surface. For those interested, Scream VI slices into theaters this Friday, March 10.
