After almost a decade in development, Scream 5 is finally ready to go before the cameras. The project is being helmed by Ready or Not directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, with series writer Kevin Williamson producing. The plan was to begin the shoot in May 2020 for a release in early 2021, but that obviously isn’t going to happen due to Coronavirus. But now we at least have a rough idea of what the plot will entail.
According to sources close to WGTC – the same ones who told us Scream 5 was in development months before it was confirmed, and that Bill Murray was returning for Ghostbusters: Afterlife – the movie will center around the investigation of a series of brutal murders. And at the core of the story will be a woman (whose identity is unknown) who left her home town a long time ago and now has to return to her roots in order to find the culprit. As this is a Scream movie, we can assume that the murders are being committed by Ghostface – but who’s behind the spooky mask this time?
We also know that series star Neve Campbell is set to appear as Sidney Prescott in some capacity, which at first glance would make her character the obvious candidate for the “woman” in the description. However, Scream 4 was about Sidney returning to Woodsboro and having to contend with a new spree of Ghostface killings, so Scream 5 having the same basic plot seems a bit unimaginative.
Perhaps we might see the focus shift to Courtney Cox’s Gale Riley. She’s survived all four prior Scream movies and has evolved over time from a glory-hunting reporter into a hardened survivor. On top of that, she has such a long history of involvement with the various Ghostface murderers that it makes sense they’d wind back into her life once again.
In any case, here’s hoping that the pic gets before the cameras as soon as the lockdown is lifted. In the meantime, if you’re in the mood for some Scream and have a Netflix subscription, then the second and third films are due to be removed from the service on May 1st, so get to it!
