The horror genre has been experiencing an exciting renaissance over the past few years, with plenty of original projects hitting theaters and resulting in both critical and box office success. Plenty of classic properties have also been kickstarted, including the iconic slasher Scream. The franchise will continue with Scream 5, which will be helmed by Ready or Not directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett. And now original writer Kevin Williamson has reacted to this pair of filmmakers getting the gig.
All four previous installments of the Scream franchise were directed by horror legend Wes Craven. But the filmmaker passed away in 2015, so Scream 5 will mark the first time another filmmaker(s) will be in the director's chair. Kevin Williamson helmed 3/4 of the previous Scream movies, and opened up about Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett continuing Craven's legacy with the highly anticipated fifth movie. As he put it,
I'm thoroughly excited and blown away by the directors. They are going to make Wes proud.
Well, that's certainly a hopeful message. Because while Kevin Williamson isn't involved in the writing of Scream 5, he seems to have faith in the duo of Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett. Considering Wes Craven's legacy and the writer's own relationship with the late director, this is high praise from a key collaborator. We'll just have to wait until the next movie arrives in 2022.
Kevin Williamson's comments come from a recent virtual Scream reunion courtesy of Variety. The cast and crew of the beloved 1996 slasher swapped stories about their time on set, and eventually the conversation turned to Scream 5. The mysterious slasher sequel is currently in the midst of filming, with Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, and David Arquette all returning to reprise their roles for another bloody adventure in Woodsboro.
Obviously the pressure is on for Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett to deliver with Scream 5, as they've got some very big shoes to fill. But the pair of filmmakers seems to have won over iconic names from the slasher franchise, with both Kevin Williamson and Neve Campbell teasing just how much they adore Wes Craven's work on the first four movies.
The Scream franchise helped to breathe new life to slashers in the '90s, as the meta-theatrical franchise poked fun at horror tropes, while also providing plenty of terrifying sequences. Kevin Williamson's signature dialogue helped establish the movies as something unique, and that mixture of comedy and horror is expected for Scream 5. Even if Williamson isn't involved in the screenplay.
Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett's work in Ready or Not has proven their ability to balance comedy and horror, which should lend itself well to their mysterious work on Scream 5. The upcoming Scream sequel was written by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick, with the latter writer previously collaborating with the directors on that previous slasher. We'll just have to wait to see how it all shakes down, and which characters survive Ghostface's return to Woodsboro.
Scream 5 is currently set to arrive in theaters on January 14th, 2022. In the meantime, check out our 2020 release list to plan your next movie experience.
