scream

Scream is an American horror slasher franchise that includes five films, a television series, merchandise, and games. The series has grossed over $740 million in worldwide box-office receipts. The film series is created by Kevin Williamson, who wrote the first two films and the fourth. The first four films were directed by Wes Craven. Ehren Kruger wrote the third film. Recent entries have been directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett with Guy Busick and James Vanderbilt as writers and Williamson returning as executive producer. Bob and Harvey Weinstein served as executive producer in the first four films, while Gary Barber served as executive producer in the fifth film. Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, and Roger L. Jackson, who voices the various Ghostface killers, have all starred in the first five films, with Cox and Jackson reprising their roles for the sixth film. Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega, Mason Gooding, and Jasmin Savoy Brown joined the franchise in the fifth film and are all due back for the sixth.
The supporting cast of the franchise usually changes with each installment, with a few exceptions: Jamie Kennedy and Liev Schreiber appear in each of the first three films, while Skeet Ulrich appears in the first and fifth installments, Marley Shelton in the fourth and fifth, and Hayden Panettiere in the fourth and sixth. Additionally, Heather Matarazzo makes cameo appearances in the third and fifth films, as does Nancy O'Dell in the second, third and fourth. Having appeared in the opening scene of the first film and on its poster, Drew Barrymore is strongly associated with the franchise, which has also drawn many notable actors making single-film appearances as supporting cast or cameos, including: Matthew Lillard, Rose McGowan, Henry Winkler, Jada Pinkett, Omar Epps, Duane Martin, Timothy Olyphant, Laurie Metcalf, Jerry O'Connell, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Heather Graham, Patrick Dempsey, Parker Posey, Deon Richmond, Carrie Fisher, Scott Foley, Emma Roberts, Adam Brody, Rory Culkin, Dylan Minnette, and many more.
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 from 2015 to 2016 on MTV and on VH1 in 2019. A fifth installment in the film series was released on January 14, 2022. It entered development in 2019 with filmmakers Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett signed on to direct, Busick and Vanderbilt writing the screenplay, and original creator Williamson returning as an executive producer, marking the first installment in the film series to not be directed by Wes Craven, who died in 2015. In February 2022, it was confirmed that a sixth installment of the series was in development, scheduled for release on March 31, 2023.
Williamson's original script for the first film 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 (1996), Scream 2, and Scream (2022) received high praise from critics, 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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