Scream 6 Will Be Unlike Any Other Movie In The Franchise
Barely over a year after the release of Scream (2022), Ghostface is coming back for blood. Melissa Barrera, who joined the fifth installment in the horror franchise earlier this year, told Variety that Scream 6 will be, “[P]otentially a hundred times gorier,” than its predecessor. And it all begins with the film’s directors, Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin.
Barrera said Gillett and Bettinelli-Opin, who returned to direct Scream 6 after their $140 million box office total for the fifth film, have gone off the rails when it comes to gore. The actress said the directing duo played things safe in their first Scream outing, trying to maintain the style of the franchise’s previous films. This time, they are going all out.
“More blood spritz,” became the mantra on set, according to Barrera, who recounted her directors’ fake bloodlust. The duo was apparently difficult to satisfy in the gore department, as they were always asking for more. Though the boost in bloodshed is a stylistic change for the franchise, it seems to be par for the course for the film’s new Ghostface killer.
Jenna Ortega, star of Netflix’s smash hit Wednesday, leads the new Scream films with Barrera. When asked about Scream 6, she teased that the most brutal version of Ghostface is on the way. Ramped up ruthlessness and gore are not the only big changes coming to the upcoming sequel.
Scream 6 follows survivors from the previous film to New York City, making it the first film in the franchise to take place outside the fictional town of Woodsboro. Barrera commented on the change of setting, saying that the crowded city adds a new dimension of terror to the story. The complacent attitude and philosophy of noninvolvement from New Yorkers means people can hear you scream, they just don’t care.
Scream 6 is the first film in the series to not include actress Neve Campbell, who has played the protagonist Sydney Prescott since the first film debuted in 1996. Campbell reportedly declined a part in the film due to a low compensation offering. Sydney’s presence, according to those involved, will still be felt in the upcoming film.
The film’s directors, hot off a hit with Scream (2022), are turning Scream 6 around at lightning speed. The sequel is set to release March 10, 2023, barely over a year after the January 2022 release of its predecessor. Scream (2022) writers James Vanderbilt (Zodiac, The Amazing Spider-Man) and Guy Busick (Ready or Not) also return for the sequel.
After Scream 6 bows next spring, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett will have their hands full reviving another beloved franchise with their Escape From New York sequel. The film reportedly has the blessing of original Escape director John Carpenter and will feature Kurt Russell’s return as the eye patch-clad Snake Pliskin. The 1981 Escape From New York follows Pliskin, a criminal recruited by the government to rescue the president after his plane crashes in Manhattan, which in this dystopian future, has been converted to a prison island.
Snake Pliskin won’t be the only one looking to escape New York when Scream 6 hits theaters next spring. Fans of the horror franchise are in for a bloody treat when the new generation of Scream characters battles the goriest version of Ghostface yet.
