Scream 5: Courteney Cox Asked Directors Not To Kill One Character
Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Scream (2022).
Courteney Cox begged the directors of 2022's Scream to keep one major character alive in the film. The fifth installment in the successful slasher-comedy series was released earlier this year to critical and box office success, resulting in renewed popularity in the Scream franchise and a sixth film starting production this summer. Cox has confirmed she will return for Scream 6, but unfortunately without one cast member: her longtime costar and former husband, David Arquette.
Cox and Arquette have appeared in all five Scream films since 1996 as Gale Weathers and Dewey Riley, respectively. The franchise, originally directed by the late Wes Craven, was known for its blend of scares and laughs, satirical takes on horror tropes, and cementing Ghostface as a now-classic movie villain. The fifth film, simply titled Scream, also managed to bring plenty of tears as the filmmakers decided, opposed by Cox, to kill off Arquette's Dewey, a longtime fan favorite and ex-husband of Cox's Gale.
On the recent episode of the podcast Just for Variety (via EW), Cox opened up on how she felt about the shocking character death. While she commended the film's directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (collectively known as Radio Silence), Cox disapproved of their choosing to have Ghostface kill Dewey. Cox even suggested, while on set, that the directors could even shoot an additional scene teasing Dewey's survival. Cox's comment on Dewey's death can be read below:
It was sad, because Dewey is such a beloved character and he's so goofy, and I thought he brought such a comedic twist to the whole franchise. I think that was really — that was a downer.
I remember being on the lawn going, 'I just thought it was a big mistake not to have the option. I understand why you want [to do it] — it makes it really serious. But then wouldn't it be great if just [in] the last three minutes: text from the hospital.' I wanted that to happen.
Cox isn't alone, as many Scream fans felt that the death of Dewey was either too devastating or even unearned. Dewey and Gale's romance, which started in the original 1996 film, has been considered the heart of the franchise, and his death made it all the more heartbreaking. Although Dewey managed to narrowly avoid death multiple times in previous films, Radio Silence and writers James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick felt that 2022's Scream was essential for killing off the beloved "legacy character," as mentioned in the film, for the story to work. With this new change, it leaves Scream 6 with Cox as the witty Gale Weathers and fellow costar Neve Campbell as the iconic "final girl" Sidney Prescott returning to a world without their beloved Deputy Dewey, making their legacy trio no more.
With Scream further popularizing the trend of "requels" (sequels that are also soft remakes) in cinema, the idea of a much-adored legacy character getting killed off has been understandably controversial amongst fans and cast members, but not uncommon. As established in Scream 3, one of the rules was "Anyone, including the main character, can die," which, even though made for what was originally a trilogy, still applies to the future of Scream. Will Courteney Cox and Neve Campbell's returns for the sixth installment be the last run of their beloved characters? Will Gale Weathers or Sidney Prescott join Dewey Riley as one of the next major deaths? The idea may be too much to handle for diehard Scream fans, but not impossible.
Source: Just for Variety (via EW)