Scream 6 Will Risk Everything to Subvert Fan Expectation
The recently announced Scream 6 will risk everything to subvert expectations, says its co-director, Tyler Gillett. After 25 years, the Scream franchise headed off in a new direction with the release of its latest installment. For the first time ever, a Scream film was released that wasn't directed by franchise co-creator and horror filmmaking legend, Wes Craven. Having passed away in 2015, Craven's absence from the teen slasher horror franchise made many fans nervous about any new entries.
Thankfully, Gillett and co-director Matt Bettinelli-Olpin not only managed to bring the original surviving cast members back together on 2022's Scream, but they delivered a film that many felt was the best sequel the series has seen. This was no easy feat, as coming up with a suitable story and justification for bringing the Ghostface killer back yet again needed to be done with a certain degree of care. After four entries in the series under Craven's careful eye, a new sequel needed to feel seamless in its continuation of the Scream mythology. It also required a return to the tongue-in-cheek tone that the franchise was born out of. For Scream fans, the fifth film was the litmus test – could the series continue on without the man who made it all possible? And if it did, would it still feel fresh and fun? As it turned out, the answer to both of those questions was a resounding yes.
Having proven itself as a box office hit, the fifth Scream film was left with just one more question lingering in its bloody wake: would it be followed up with a sequel? Fans were delighted to discover that there will indeed be a Scream 6, and its arrival is barely over a year away. Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett are returning to direct the upcoming film, as are Scream 2022 writers James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick. And, as Gillett told Empire recently, the need to pull out all the stops to make Scream 6 avoid any and all expectations has injected the production with a "risk it all" attitude:
“This movie has to be willing to risk it all in order to subvert all of those expectations. And we’re so far down the rabbit hole of Scream movies, that it’s all up for grabs at this point.”
For Scream fans, Gillett's attitude brings back a bit of the familiar anxiety that surrounded Scream 2022. On the one hand, it's thrilling to hear that the production is striving to really up the ante on everything that's come before. On the other hand, however, there is the threat of going too far – of taking Scream into territory that risks derailing the franchise. It's a tricky path to navigate, but this time at least, Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillet have proven that they have what it takes to build something new and thrilling out of the series. Whether or not they can continue to build on the momentum of Scream 2022 remains to be seen, but without pushing things forward to some degree, the series runs the risk of turning stale.
With Scream 2022 having given the franchise a jolt of new life, Scream 6 could quite possibly be the most vital entry to date. The initial fears of continuing to make Scream films without Craven's guidance are now more or less out of the way. However, Scream 6 could be a make-or-break moment for the franchise. It's clear that a new path has been carved out, and now, it just remains to be seen if that path can lead somewhere genuinely engaging.
Source: Empire