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The Scream Trailer Could Be Part Of A Deceptive And Misdirecting Marketing Move

The Scream movie trailer was full of misdirection and fun for fans of the franchise.

Scream

The highly anticipated and long-awaited trailer for the upcoming Scream movie finally aired for the first time to audiences worldwide on Tuesday, Oct. 12th. It was everything fans could have hoped for in every manner of speaking. 

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There was the well-known element of fear and anticipation and the familiar feel of Woodsboro even as new faces were introduced and new storylines unveiled. Some moments left you speechless and scenes that brought with them a deep sense of fear. We’ve known this story for years, grown close to the characters over the franchise history, and when we see them scared or in pain, it leaves us feeling unnerved.

Bloody Disgusting recently had a chat with directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett about the trailer and if any of it could have been misdirection — mainly because it seemed to share so much.

“That is a very safe assumption. This was a hard trailer for marketing to put together, and I think one of the things we’re happy with is that anything that you might think is a spoiler in this, there’s a good chance you’re wrong. There are misdirects within the movie. There are misdirects within the trailer. For us, that’s just the fun of the whole thing to make this a big whodunnit. Spoilers suck, but the fun as fans is to talk about who might be the killer. Then to go through it forensically to try and find out and see if you can win the game, basically.”

They hit the nail on the head because fans immediately started putting theories together on who would don the mask of Ghostface this time around. Fans wondered which fresh face would have reason to kill and why; they took to social media to see what other honorary members of Woodsboro thought about the trailer, too.

This Twitter account asked for predictions to be shared after fans viewed the trailer.

This comment shared a theory that Wes could be a love child between Judy and Stu and the killer.

This user is going with the idea that the team is playing us, and they’re obviously not wrong.

Using a gif from the first film, this Tweet specifically notes that misdirect is used heavily in the trailer and that anyone writing it off is silly to be doing so.

Gillett also spoke about misdirection in the trailer and how the fans of the film sort of made them necessary. Scream fans watch each scene ready to dissect them; they know a killer is not only on the loose but hiding in plain sight. It becomes a game to find out who is responsible for the murders and why. The depth of the fans’ dedication to the series and how much they care about the movies makes it a more exciting process for everyone involved.

“Part of what we love about the Scream movies, and what we love about the Scream fandom is just how deep people watch these movies. We think some of the fun of this experience is this forensic watching of things and trying to figure out who the killer is. It’s all a part of what’s so unique and so special about this franchise to us. As deep, deep fans of the original four, we took pains to populate the world of this movie, and certainly the materials with as many fun nods and Easter eggs and misdirects as possible.”

Knowing this provides an added level of fun for fans, too. It is exciting to know that the trailer we’ve all been waiting for is full of moments we can’t trust; it’s exciting to figure out which pieces of the puzzle may fit and which are of a different image entirely. More than that, it’s thrilling to try to discover a motive, especially this time around.

Scream hits theaters on Jan. 14, 2022.