Scream VI

 ( Official Website ) 

Scream VI is a 2023 American slasher film directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, and written by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick. It is a sequel to Scream (2022) and the sixth installment in the Scream film series. The film stars Melissa Barrera, Mason Gooding, Roger L. Jackson, Jenna Ortega, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Skeet Ulrich, Hayden Panettiere, and Courteney Cox, all reprising their roles from previous installments, with Jack Champion, Henry Czerny, Liana Liberato, Dermot Mulroney, Devyn Nekoda, Tony Revolori, Josh Segarra, and Samara Weaving joining the ensemble cast. The plot follows a new Ghostface killer, who begins targeting the survivors of the Woodsboro murders in New York City.

A sixth Scream film was announced just weeks after the successful debut of Scream (2022). Much of the cast signed on to reprise their roles, with Bettinelli-Olpin, Gillett, Vanderbilt, and Busick also returning. Filming took place in Montreal, Canada, from June to late August 2022. Neve Campbell did not reprise her role as Sidney Prescott due to a pay dispute, making this the only Scream film not to feature her. Brian Tyler, who had scored the fifth film, returned to compose and conduct the score, with Sven Faulconer joining Tyler as a co-composer.

Scream VI premiered at the AMC Lincoln Square Theater in Manhattan on March 6, 2023, and was theatrically released in the United States on March 10 by Paramount Pictures. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the fresh setting for the franchise, the increased violence, and the performances of the cast. It grossed $169million worldwide, becoming the first installment in the franchise to earn over $100million at the domestic US box office since Scream 2 (1997) and the highest-grossing Scream film in the United States and Canada (unadjusted for inflation). It won Best Movie at the 2023 MTV Movie & TV Awards and ranked #3 on The Hollywood Reporters list of "The Best Slasher Movies of the Decade". A sequel, Scream 7, is scheduled to be released on February 27, 2026.

The Carpenter sisters now reside in New York City, with Tara attending Blackmore University alongside fellow survivors and twins Chad and Mindy Meeks-Martin; their roommate, Quinn Bailey; Mindy's girlfriend, Anika Kayoko; and Chad's roommate, Ethan Landry. Sam attends therapy with Dr. Christopher Stone, and has become a public pariah because of an online conspiracy theory that she was the true mastermind of the recent killings. Quinn's father, Detective Wayne Bailey, calls Sam in for questioning as her ID was found at the scene of Jason's murder, along with a Ghostface mask worn by Richie and Amber. On the way to the station, Ghostface calls Sam from Richie's number, then attacks Tara, kills multiple bystanders in a bodega, and leaves behind another Ghostface mask worn in the 2011 Woodsboro killings.

At the NYPD police station, the Carpenter sisters meet with FBI special agent, Kirby Reed, a survivor of the 2011 killings, and reporter Gale Weathers, who has since written a new book about the previous Woodsboro killings, despite promising the sisters that she would not. Gale informs them that Sidney Prescott has gone into hiding to protect her family. Dr. Stone is murdered by Ghostface, who steals Sam's file and leaves behind a mask worn in the Hollywood killings. Mindy theorizes that the killer is following the rules of film franchises, specifically the rule that anyone can die while the franchise will still continue. From his window, Sam's boyfriend Danny witnesses Ghostface stabbing Quinn in the Carpenter sisters' apartment before attacking the group and killing Anika, leaving behind a mask worn in the Windsor College killings. Gale takes the group to an abandoned theater she found while investigating, which has been set up as a shrine to the Ghostface killers, featuring many items of evidence related to previous massacres now displayed like film props.

Ghostface calls Gale at her apartment and torments her about Dewey Riley's death before killing her boyfriend and attacking her. The Carpenter sisters arrive just in time to stop Ghostface from killing Gale, who is taken to the hospital. The group agrees to meet Kirby at the theater to trap Ghostface. Mindy and Ethan are separated from the group and while hopping onto another train, Mindy is stabbed by Ghostface on the train. At the theater, Sam sees a hallucination of Billy Loomis. Taking his knife from the original murders, she realizes they have been locked inside. Two Ghostfaces appear and attack Chad. Wayne and Kirby both arrive with guns drawn and he shoots her, revealing himself as a third Ghostface and the mastermind. His accomplices are his children, revealed to be Ethan and a still-alive Quinn, who faked her death to ease suspicion. They reveal their motive is to take revenge on Sam for killing Richie, who was their brother and Wayne's first-born son. The trio were also responsible for the online smear campaign against Sam, having infiltrated her life with the intent of killing her. The Carpenter sisters ultimately gain the upper hand and fight them off, with Tara stabbing Ethan and Sam killing Quinn, while briefly rendering Wayne unconscious. Sam then dons her father's Ghostface costume, taunts Wayne with a phone call, and stabs him to death. Ethan resurfaces, but Kirby smashes a television set over his head, killing him.

Sam agrees to let Tara live her life more independently, and Tara agrees to go to therapy. As Kirby and the Meeks twins are taken to the hospital, Sam stares at her father's Ghostface mask before discarding it and following Tara and Danny into the city.

In January 2022, Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, and Tyler Gillett expressed interest in making future films in the series. Courteney Cox would later express an interest in a sequel while doing publicity for Shining Vale. A sixth film was officially green-lit on February 3, 2022, by Spyglass Media Group. Olpin and Gillett of Radio Silence would return to direct while James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick would write the script once again. By the end of the month, Campbell was approached to return for the film. The following month, Cox had received the script and was courted to reprise her role. Also in March, the sixth film's release date was set for March 31, 2023. A few weeks later, plot details emerged, setting the film outside of Woodsboro. By June, it was announced the film would take place in New York City. Ortega said the film would feature a more "aggressive and violent" Ghostface than in previous entries.

Campbell expanded on her statement a few weeks later, saying she could not bear "walking on set and feeling undervalued" and that the offer would have been different had she been a man.

IndieWire noted Campbell had spent 26 years acting in the franchise and announced it was "the end of an era". David Arquette stated, "I'd love for her to be a part of it. A Scream movie without Sidney is kind of unfortunate, but I understand her decision. It's all a business in a way, they have to balance all these elements to fit a budget and produce a film." Jasmin Savoy Brown and Melissa Barreraas well as former Scream co-stars Emma Roberts, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Matthew Lillard, and expressed their support for Campbell's decision and praised her contributions to the series. In March 2023, Courteney Cox told Variety that she missed working with Campbell on the movie but was going to "support whatever she feels is right". Even though she would not be in the film, it was said the script still contained references to and was "protective" of the Sidney character.

In December 2022, Radio Silence Productions commented on Campbell's absence, saying her absence affected the script "greatly." However, in March 2023, the pair said the script had changed "very little" since Campbell had exited "early enough in the process". In both instances, they said they decided to use the change as an opportunity to focus more on other characters, particularly the four young survivors from the previous film. They also mentioned how much they love both Campbell and the Sidney character and that she could return in future installments.

The subway scene was done without a green screen, largely relying on practical effects. According to director of photography Brett Jutkiewicz, "The special effects team was actually able to tow the car into and out of our subway platform set. So, there's some brief moments when you can see the car stopping at a station. That's actually practical. It's being pulled from a black fabric tunnel onto our subway platform set and you can actually see it pulling in." However, Jutkiewicz did originally protest the subway train flicker effects: "I definitely said to the directors, 'Is that too much? It's not totally realistic that it would flicker that much.' And they were like, 'No, we love it. It works.' And I think that's the whole thing about this film: we're creating this heightened naturalism where, even if something isn't super true to reality, we wanted it to be true enough to make you feel like you are in these environments while we heighten the experience and lean into the tension and the emotional experience the characters are going through."

The film's climax features a projection of a fictional movie made by the character Richie Kirsch. Some of the footage shown is actually from actor Jack Quaid's real-life home videos, interspliced with footage for the film, with voiceovers also provided by Quaid. The film features many homages and items from previous films inside the theater museum. The items used were not actually the original props from previous films but rather were recreated by the film's art and costume departments.

 Audiences polled by [[CinemaScore]] gave the film an average grade of B+ on an A+ to F scale, while those at [[PostTrak]] gave it an overall 87% positive score, with 74% saying they would definitely recommend it.