Ghostface is more terrifying than ever and on a rampage in the Big Apple in Scream VI. No one is safe and everyone is a suspect in the smash hit thriller from Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media Group that has earned more than $167 million worldwide, and the movie is now available on Digital platforms and Paramount+.
In the movie, the four survivors from the most recent Woodsboro Ghostface killings have moved to New York City for a fresh start. Just as they begin to feel a sense of normalcy, they receive that infamous call from a Ghostface who is more brutal and relentless than ever and will stop at nothing to hunt them down.
We recently spoke with Scream VI writers James Vanderbilt & Guy Busick, as well as producer William Sherak, to discuss the work that went into bringing this sequel to life. As well as getting some insights into creating that tense opening sequence, we get a breakdown of Courtney Cox's big battle with Ghostface and learn more about the joys of writing such meta-filled dialogue.
The creative team also break down Hayden Panettiere's return to the franchise as Kirby and what it's been like to put a fresh spin on such a beloved horror franchise.
You can check out our interview with the Scream VI filmmakers in the player below.
The film’s opening is a perfect example of what makes this franchise so great, but James and Guy, what would you say is the secret to building that sort of tension as writers?
Busick: Well, I think we had both come up with the idea independently, very strangely. When we had our first story meeting, I pitched this off-the-wall idea of Ghostface having a traditional kill, taking the mask off, and then following him to where he gets killed. James held up his notepad and he had the same thing written down so we were like, ‘Okay, we’re on the right track!’ I think, for me anyway, it was asking what we hadn’t seen before and what could make the audience lean forward. The opening kills in these movies are so important and so iconic, we asked how we could change it up and do something really exciting and risky.
We wanted people to say, ‘Wait a second, are we following Ghostface this whole movie? Is it from his perspective?’ The audience needed to go, ‘I’m in the hands of a madman and I don’t know what’s happening here. This is crazy, I didn’t expect it.’ To keep turning it on itself is where the tension comes from. You have the traditional phone call with Samara’s character and Ghostface and things keep changing. You see he knows Sam and Tara, so it’s reveal, reveal, reveal, and hopefully keeps you wondering what’s going to come next.
You really give Courtney Cox the chance to shine with that sequence in the apartment, but what was the process like of putting that together and giving Gail this big showdown with Ghostface?
Vanderbilt: It was such a gift to be able to do that. I think Guy and I really got excited about the fact there have been six movies and she’s never had a phone call. We were like, ‘That’s crazy!’ It’s a wonderful opportunity for us and Courtney loves these movies. She’s so good in them and such a good actor, so you just know she’s going to deliver. The idea of building this mini-movie and this full meal where we let her go for it, both with all of the dialogue and the action we throw at her. We really wanted to scare you and make you think this might be it for her. People have had such a connection to that character over the last 26 years, it was important to us to push that to the limit. One thing I love about Scream movies is that they’re scary but also really emotional. Courtney really delivered on that for us in spades.
William, you’ve produced and worked on lots of great films and franchises, but what has it meant to you to be part of shaping this new era of storytelling for Scream?
Sherak: If wishing made it so, right? You end up in this place where your dreams come true. It’s partly because it’s this huge franchise, but also partly because you’re getting to work with people you idolise. We were able to work with Kevin and he’s now a friend. You grow up in this business and all you want to do is make movies, and then you get to make the ones that made you want to be in this business…and working with your friends, there’s really no better way to do it. So, working on something that’s iconic and getting to continue it feels like everything in the world is going right for you.
Like a lot of fans, I love seeing the legacy characters return with Kirby obviously being perhaps the biggest surprise in movie 6, but are there still some dream characters or actors any of you would like to add to the mix?
Busick: Literally, as we’re writing the script and write names like ‘Sidney,’ ‘Dewey,’ and ‘Gale,’ and then writing dialogue underneath them is very surreal and very daunting. And very fun. We were such enormous fans of this franchise before getting involved in it, that’s just a dream moment. ‘How did I get here? Is this real like?’ Kirby was one where we wanted to bring her back in 5 and James and I talked about how we might do it, but there wasn’t enough real estate to include her in the story as it was very overstuffed as it was with so many characters and storylines. It didn’t fit, but she was always on the top of the list.
When we found our 6 was going to happen, she was one of the first things we talked about: how would it make sense to bring Kirby into the story? We’re such enormous fans of the lore and both Kirby the character and Hayden Panettiere the performer, so how could we work with her and get her in this movie? Credit to James as he figured out the FBI component and it just clicked. That made a lot of sense for the story and character as her life would have taken a different trajectory after what happened to her and informed her choices in terms of what profession she’d go into.
Sherak: That’s the other fun piece. They have the hard job of coming up with the story and I get the fun one which is reaching out to all these people! The fun part has been that every one of the legacy characters we’ve reached out to has had the same, in different ways because they were all very different parts of those movies, fondness of how zeitgeisty each of them was for their lives after being part of the franchise. We reached out to Hayden on 5 and Zoom’d with her. It was just so great to know she remembered it fondly and would love to be back in the Kirby role.
When we called her and articulated what Guy just said, which was the fact we weren’t going to do it unless Kirby could have everything she needed in the movie but if we could figure it out, we’d call back immediately, and when I got make that call on 6, it was so much fun because they all have such a fondness for the franchise. That has been, for me at least, the best part as we’ve gone backwards and seen that what they were part of has stuck with them. That’s been a blast. When you see behind the curtain, it’s awesome when everyone is enjoying it. That’s fun. That’s not always the case.
Vanderbilt: [Laughs] We’ve got to talk about the future. We have this rule on each movie where we’re never setting stuff up and we really want - just like Wes and Kevin did - to do the work in front of them and deliver a full meal for the fans so you leave it all on the field. We always talk about it like, ‘If this is the last Scream movie that’s ever made, we want to finish it strong.’ That’s how we went into 6. We’re so happy people enjoyed it.
The meta elements are another highlight, of course, so when you have a character like Jasmin Savoy Brown’s Mindy delivering that fantastic monologue, it must be an absolute joy to write?
Vanderbilt: It really is and she’s so great. One of the things that’s wonderful about writing a sequel is you know more about who you’re writing for to a certain extent. When we were writing Mindy in 5, we thought it was a really cool part, but you never know how the actress is going to play it. Knowing this was Jasmin and what she’s capable of, it was like, ‘Let’s give her a fastball and let her off the chain. We’ll give her a big hunk of scenery to chew.’ I think William that day was…it was your quickest day, right? She reeled off that dialogue and we were done.
Sherak: It kills me to compliment them to their faces and I do it as rarely as possible…
Vanderbilt: That’s true!
Sherak: …but because, as one of the first people to read the script when they’re done, because they knew the role and the actors playing them, that first draft of all of the core four and the dialogue they wrote for these amazing young actors was so good and so on point. When you read it, you just went, ‘Oh my God, they made a meal for every single one of them.’ That’s not easy to do, especially when you’re on the sixth movie and you need to keep it fresh.
The voice that these two found for the core four was so good and it was on the page in draft one. The movie shows because of it. It kills me to compliment them that way [Laughs] but it’s true and it’s fun when you get to see the difference between writing where you don’t know who will play them and writing it when you know. They have to live it but I get to read it as a fan first and you read it knowing who they are and them knowing who it will be and it just screams off the page.
Scream VI is now available on Digital platforms and Paramount+ and arrives on 4K Ultra HD SteelBook, on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD on July 11