For the past few years, it’s been a great time to be a horror fan. The genre’s renaissance is still going strong, with the next highly anticipated release being the new Scream movie this January. And the new sequel recently confirmed another intriguing connection to Wes Craven’s original movie. Let’s break it all down.
The new Scream movie will be helmed by Ready or Not directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, marking the first installment of the franchise hitting theaters since Wes Craven’s death. But it seems like the duo are making the new sequel intimately connected to the original, featuring the trio of OG heroes, and Stu’s house in Woodsboro as a major setting. And it’s just been revealed that there’s also a tie to Jamie Kennedy’s character Randy.
This latest update comes to us from a video on the new Scream’s tie-in TikTok account. In the clip, members of Woodsboro High Film Club confirm that newcomers Chad and Mindy Meeks-Martin (played by Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown respectively) are actually Randy’s nephew and niece. It should be interesting to see how this dynamic of the story plays out in the new sequel, and how Randy’s family continued on after his shocking death in Scream 2.
Not much is known about Randy’s home life, but we did meet one other member of the family after his death. Character actress Heather Matarazzo played Randy’s teenage sister Martha in Scream 3, delivering his posthumous message to Sidney and company. Could this mean the Princess Diaries actress might be back for a surprise appearance in the 2022 sequel? Only time will tell, but I’m suddenly much more invested in Chad and Mindy as characters.
The cast and crew of Scream have been carefully guarding the movie’s secrets, which should allow for the twists and turns to be all the more powerful when it hits theaters in just a few weeks. Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett gave the cast fake scripts on set, and have already confirmed that the trailers include misdirects for the audience. As a reminder, you can check out said trailer below,
Aside from being related to the Jaime Kennedy’s beloved character Randy, Jasmin Savoy Brown’s character Mindy Meeks-Martin is also notable for being a queer woman of color. Indeed, the cast of the new Scream is the most inclusive that the film franchise has ever had. Although that doesn’t mean that anyone is safe from Ghostface when the project slashes into theaters.
The more information that trickles out about Scream, the more it shows how the project will be super connected to the 1996 original. Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett are massive fans of Wes Craven, and their respect for his work was partly how they convinced returning stars like Neve Campbell to sign up. We’ll just have to see if this kickstarts a new trilogy of movies, or if the new sequel is simply a one-off akin to Scream 4.
Scream is currently expected to hit theaters exclusively on January 14th. In the meantime, check out the 2022 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience.
