Scream is an American meta slasher media franchise based on four films, with a fifth slated for release in 2022. The franchise includes a television series, merchandise, and games. The film series was written by Kevin Williamson, with the first four films directed by Wes Craven. The series stars Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, and David Arquette, and grossed over $608 million in worldwide box-office receipts. Campbell, Cox, and Arquette have appeared in all four films to date, as has Roger L. Jackson, who voices the various Ghostface killers. All will appear in the fifth film. The supporting film cast usually changes with each installment, with a few exceptions: co-stars Jamie Kennedy and Liev Schreiber featured in each of the first three films and Marley Shelton appeared in the fourth film and will also return in the fifth film.
The films follow Sidney Prescott and her struggle against a succession of murderers who adopt the guise of Ghostface to stalk and kill their victims. Sidney receives support from town policeman Dewey Riley, tabloid reporter Gale Weathers, and film-geek Randy Meeks, along with various other friends, romantic partners, and acquaintances that change as the series progresses.
The first film, Scream, was released on December 20, 1996, and became the highest-grossing slasher film in the world until the release of Halloween (2018). The second entry, Scream 2, was released on December 12, 1997, which was less than a year after the first film. The third installment, Scream 3, was released on February 4, 2000, and was originally the concluding chapter of the series. Eleven years later, the franchise was revived with a fourth installment, Scream 4, which was released on April 15, 2011. An anthology television series Scream, which followed new characters and settings, aired for three seasons on MTV and VH1 from 2015 to 2019. A fifth installment in the film series is scheduled to be released on January 14, 2022. It entered development in 2019 with filmmakers Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett signed on to direct, Guy Busick and James Vanderbilt writing the screenplay, and original creator Kevin Williamson returning as an executive producer. It will mark the first installment in the film series to not be directed by Wes Craven, who died in 2015.Williamson's original script for the first movie was bought by Miramax and developed under the Dimension Films label by Bob and Harvey Weinstein, who recruited Craven to direct. Craven in turn recruited composer Marco Beltrami to score the film. This team went on to be involved in every film of the series, though Williamson was forced to take a smaller role in Scream 3 due to his commitment to other projects, with Ehren Kruger replacing him as screenwriter. Kruger also provided uncredited rewrites for Scream 4. Craven ran into conflicts with the Motion Picture Association of America over the series and was forced to reduce the violence in Scream 3 due to the Columbine High School massacre resulting in increased focus on violence in the media. Scream became notable for its use of established and recognizable actors, which was uncommon for slasher films at the time.
Scream and Scream 2 received critical acclaim. While Scream 3 received a more mixed response, Scream 4, Craven's final film, was generally seen as a return to form for the series, and has undergone a positive reappraisal in the years since. The first film has been credited with revitalizing the horror genre in the late 1990s by combining a traditional slasher film with humor, characters aware of horror film cliches and a clever plot. It was one of the highest-grossing films of 1996 and became the highest-grossing slasher film in the world, an honor it held until it was surpassed by 2018's Halloween. Its success was matched by Scream 2, which not only broke box-office records of the time but was also considered superior to the original by some critics. Scream 3 fared worse than its predecessors, both critically and financially, with many critics commenting that it had become the type of horror film it originally parodied in Scream and Scream 2, while others praised it for successfully completing the film trilogy. Scream 4 also received mixed reviews, with criticism mainly aimed at its use of horror film cliches, although many considered it an improvement over its predecessor. The film series has been the recipient of several awards, including a Saturn Award for Best Actress and MTV Movie Award for Best Female Performance for Campbell and a Saturn Award for Best Horror Film for Scream.
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