Scream is now available for purchase on Digital, and comes loaded with plenty of killer bonus content. The terror then comes home on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD on April 5 (and Paramount+ on March 8), and directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett recently spoke to us about their work on the movie. Tackling an iconic horror property like this is no easy feat, but the filmmakers nailed it.
In this conversation with Matt and Tyler, we learn more about working with Courteney Cox, David Arquette, and Neve Campbell, and their decision to tackle toxic fandoms in the film.
They also address the challenge of making Ghostface scary again after what can only be described as countless parodies over the years, and break down why actor Roger L. Jackson is so crucial. Finally, we hear from them about the possibility of a potential Stab spinoff and Scream 6 plans.
Their love of the franchise is clear to see, and it's fascinating to get these insights into the work that went into bringing Scream back to the big screen after an absence that spanned a decade.
Watch the full interview with Matt and Tyler in the player below:
I watched the film again this week and it’s so much fun. You must feel so proud and happy to have seen the response to it since it came out a couple of months ago?
Matt: Thank you! It has been. It’s been a lot of fun. I mean, honestly, hearing people liked it and that it resonated with them…it’s just the best.
Tyler: In every way. This project has officially become a dream come true in every conceivable way [Laughs].
I mostly write about comic book movies, so I’m pretty familiar with how toxic certain fandoms can get [Laughs]. Obviously, that is something this film really addresses head-on, so what made you want to go down that route? It works brilliantly in the film, but were you concerned about pushing those buttons of that section of fans?
Matt: [Laughs] Yes, we were! Honestly, all credit is to James [Vanderbilt] and Guy [Busick], the writers, as they wrote the script and when we read it for the first time, it really worked for us. We thought, ‘Wow, it’s great to be able to talk about this.’ We’re movie fans. We get it. We’re part of that. The fun of this whole process has been that we’re on both sides of that coin. We’re not on a soapbox. We’re in it, having the conversation while we’re doing the thing that we’re talking about, so there’s a meta on meta kind of thing happening. It’s what Scream does best. All Screams have that kind of conversation about something happening right now and this, for this movie, when we read it, felt to us like it was exactly hitting the target as the thing to be talking about.
Courteney Cox, David Arquette, and Neve Campbell all come back here, but how involved were they in terms of where their characters had been and where their journeys went throughout this movie as well?
Tyler: They were very involved in crafting the specific journey in this movie. All three of them. I think one of the things we wanted to do just as fans of theirs and certainly understanding that they’ve lived with these characters far longer than we have was to get them involved as early as possible and really get their thoughts. For as much as we think we know of who Sidney, Gale, and Dewie are, that they as performers approach those characters as something so personal to them, and we could never really know. Having their input and having them steer things. To Guy and James’ credit, they nailed who the characters are and where they’re at in their lives in their draft, but they were really instrumental in just nuancing and shaping who the characters are on screen in ways we would never have been able to do without their specific input. They were so, so invaluable to the process. I think also just having them involved was such a vote of confidence in what the whole process was. While they’re certainly super integral to the story, just knowing they were there and welcoming us into this existing family gave us all the shot in the arm we needed to have the confidence to actually pull the thing off. We’re just eternally grateful to them and such huge fans of all of them.
It goes without saying that Ghostface is such an iconic horror character, but he’s been parodied over the years and maybe watered down a little. Coming into this film, what was the biggest challenge of making him a terrifying adversary again?
Matt: It’s funny because that’s very true. There’s been how many parodies of Scream and Ghostface? For us, if done properly, Ghostface with the big knife trying to kill you should be really scary...
Head to FearHQ.com to read the rest of the interview or watch the video above!