The next installment in the Scream franchise isn’t set to hit theaters until January 2022, but filming has already wrapped despite a couple of setbacks related to the Coronavirus pandemic, meaning that new directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett have plenty of time in post-production to ensure that the fifth entry lives up to the legacy established by creator and horror legend Wes Craven, who passed away in 2015.
Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette are back to fill the quota of seasoned players that have seen and done it all before, while fresh faces include Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega, Jack Quaid, Dylan Minnette and Kyle Gallner. This next outing in the slasher franchise comes eleven years after the fourth installment, and based on how the sequels have been numbered so far, everyone was expecting it to be called Scream 5, which would make sense.
However, continuing the bizarre trend of naming movies out of continuity that’s plagued the business for years, the sequel is instead titled Scream. So, in terms of canon, that’s Scream, Scream 2, Scream 3, Scream 4 and Scream. Unsurprisingly, fans are divided by the decision, and you can check out some of the reactions below.
I hate the Scream 5 title news.
I hate it as an entertainment reporter.
I hate it as a fan of the franchise.
I hate it as a person who values clarity and precision wherever possible. pic.twitter.com/TgGsptBydq— Kristy Puchko (@KristyPuchko) November 18, 2020
Scream 5 is officially called SCREAM! I’m so excited for this!
💙💀💙 pic.twitter.com/S1Esoo32tW— Lara Watson (@LaraWatson1313) November 18, 2020
"I love Scream."
"Which one?"
"I love Halloween."
"Which one?"
"I love Friday the 13th?"
"Which one?"
"I love Nightmare on Elm Street."
"Which… nah just kidding, I know."
— John Squires 🎃 (@FreddyInSpace) November 18, 2020
Guys we’re just going to call it Scream 5 https://t.co/q1GGsY3nOh
— Jordan Crucchiola (@JorCru) November 18, 2020
Halloween gave us the Scream franchise, which gave us Halloween: H20, which gave us Scream 4, which gave us 2018's Halloween, which gave us 2022's Scream.
— Louis Peitzman (@LouisPeitzman) November 18, 2020
https://twitter.com/Struggler2Dark/status/1329111916170633228?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1329111916170633228%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcomicbook.com%2Fhorror%2Fnews%2Fscream-5-trends-as-fans-debate-the-new-title%2F
Scream 5 revealing its official title pic.twitter.com/dVxDZHaHnu
— Jorge Molina (@colormejorge) November 18, 2020
Scream 5 is officially titled Scream? OKAY! pic.twitter.com/ZxKRrydZx6
— Jarett Wieselman (@JarettSays) November 18, 2020
Scream 5's title: 'Scream' pic.twitter.com/ySpC4HC9i7
— Nerdist (@nerdist) November 18, 2020
https://twitter.com/PhilNobileJr/status/1329126770033963016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1329126770033963016%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcomicbook.com%2Fhorror%2Fnews%2Fscream-5-trends-as-fans-debate-the-new-title%2F
Sorry but Sidney Prescott is irreplaceable and nobody will replace her for me. She will always be the scream star (along with Gale and Dewey) no matter if they would pass the torch on. #Scream pic.twitter.com/QbTw71txDj
— 🔪Horror Queen Neve 🔪 (@HorrorQueenNeve) November 18, 2020
i can’t believe we still have to wait over a year for scream 5 pic.twitter.com/4JGpXbnKA6
— ian✨ (@vividstyIe) November 18, 2020
The Halloween reboot/sequel hybrid might have been the inspiration, but as far as we know, Scream is going to acknowledge the events of the last four efforts, while David Gordon Green’s reinvention of Michael Myers ignored everything except John Carpenter’s classic original. If Ghostface’s next adventure lives up to what Craven brought to the franchise, though, then fans will no doubt get over the unusual choice of title pretty quickly. But we’re still fourteen months away from finding out if that’ll be the case or not.
