Scream 6 will see the return of all surviving characters from Scream (2022), with the exception of Sidney Prescott, as actress Neve Campbell announced earlier this year that she had stepped away from the project. Fortunately, though, there are many other characters left to face off against a new Ghostface killer, with two fan-favorites in the mix - Gale Weathers and Kirby Reed, played by Courteney Cox and Hayden Panettiere, respectively. Cox has appeared in every single Scream movie to date. Panettiere, however, has only been in Scream 4 (2011), with the upcoming meta-slasher sequel marking her first return to the franchise in 12 years.
And while Sidney Prescott will not be part of the line-up (it’s likely the filmmakers will explain her absence somehow), the “final girl” will probably be Sam Carpenter, with Melissa Barrera reprising her role. However, Carpenter is a final girl with a twist - in Scream (2022), she is introduced as the illegitimate daughter of original Ghostface killer Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich), and as such, she suffers from psychotic tendencies. At the end of the last Scream movie, Carpenter lays waste to one of the Ghostface killers in a bloody fashion, and even wipes her knife clean - a signature Ghostface move seen in every Scream movie to date.
So it’s possible that she will be the next Ghostface killer - or at least one of them (with the exception of Scream 3, there have always been two). But for now, we must assume that she’s the next Scream 6 “scream queen”. Recently, at the Toronto International Film Festival, Barrera was interviewed by Collider. When asked about the movie’s new setting, here’s what Barrera had to say: “It’s, like 20 times more mortifying. It’s awful. Because you also see how, in a city like New York City, everyone is kind of doing their own thing and someone is screaming for help, and no one will come to their help. No one comes to help them, you know, like, everyone’s kind of like, “I’m not getting into that.” So it’s mortifying, because you’re chased by Ghostface, but you also see humanity and how that reacts in a situation like that. Anyway, I think I’ve already probably said too much.”
Setting Scream in New York City is certainly a refreshing move. While other movies in the franchise have taken a break from the sleepy California town of Woodsboro, they’ve hardly been a huge break from the norm. And Barrera’s comments certainly leave us feeling intrigued - rather than pursuing their victims through dark alleyways and empty office buildings, it sounds like Ghostface will be taking the kills to the streets themselves. Perhaps Barrera has said too much, but we could be in for a scene similar to the opening of Scream 2 (1997), in which two unsuspecting victims are brutally killed in a busy movie theater during a sold-out screening of “Stab”.
The official synopsis for the upcoming sequel is as follows: “[Scream 6] continues with the four survivors of the Ghostface killings as they leave Woodsboro behind and start a fresh chapter.” Whether or not Scream 6 will be the final movie in the series remains to be seen, but it’s unlikely considering the previous installment grossed $140 million at the global box office against a budget of $24 million. Campbell has also expressed an interest in reprising her role as Sidney Prescott in a future movie (provided her character isn’t killed off between movies, of course).
Scream 6 stars Courteney Cox (Gale Weathers), Hayden Panettiere (Kirby Reed), Jenna Ortega (Tara Carpenter), Melissa Barrera (Sam Carpenter), Jasmin Savoy Brown (Mindy Meeks), Mason Gooding (Chad Meeks), Newcomers are Dermot Mulroney, Henry Czerny, Tony Revolori, Jack Champion, Devyn Nekoda, Liana Liberato, Josh Segarra, and Samara Weaving in undisclosed roles. Scream 6 will be released in theaters on March 31, 2023.
