There were plans to bring Randy Meeks, portrayed by Jamie Kennedy, back in the non-Kevin Williamson-penned Scream 3, but he only appeared in posthumous cameo form. Randy had survived the original Scream movie and returned in Scream 2, where he was then promptly and brutally murdered by Ghostface. The decision to off the fan-favorite character in the sequel was a controversial one, given how Randy was a surrogate for the audience with his extensive horror movie knowledge and passion for the genre.
While it had provided shock value in Scream 2, Randy's death robbed the franchise of such a key character. In the original movie, the character had explained the rules of horror movies, and in the second, he told Dewey Riley what to expect from a sequel. Despite being well versed in the world of horror, he ignored his own advice of not splitting up and was pulled into a van and butchered by Scream's iconic franchise murderer, Ghostface. There was a backlash to the character's demise - and, as implausible as it sounds, there were plans to resurrect him in the third outing.
An idea was concocted to bring Randy back in Scream 3 by explaining that his family had faked his death and taken him into a safe place for hiding. While the bare bones of the idea of Randy wanting to escape another Ghostface massacre make sense, the conclusiveness of his death scene in Scream 2 rendered the idea impossible. Randy's body was not seen being wheeled away on a gurney, but it's difficult to believe that Sidney, Gale, and Dewey would not have known what was going on or have been in on the plan, meaning the Scream 3 reveal could have felt like it was cheapening the second film. While not as originally planned, the franchise favorite character did of course make a return in Scream 3 when Randy's sister Martha Meeks (played by Heather Matarazzo) presented Sidney Prescott, Gale Weathers, and Dewey with a video-recorded cameo in which Randy explained the rules of horror trilogies.
There were some controversial creative choices in Scream 3; Roman Bridger as the overarching antagonist of the trilogy, the voice changer mimicking anyone's voice, and the explosive death scene all required leaps of imagination. Sensibly, Randy was not brought back alive to add another to this list. The rationale was two-fold - firstly, there was no plausible explanation for him escaping the van attack, and secondly, Kevin Williamson's plan for the series was honored by not reviving Randy for the third film. The franchise creator stated in an interview with ComicBook.com that while it was risky to kill off Randy, he saw it as the way to keep the franchise moving and make it personal for the audience. Dewey's death in the latest Scream movie elicited a similar response from moviegoers.
The loss of Randy added to the production headaches that the third outing faced. There were several script rewrites, Neve Campbell was only available for 20 days of shooting, and the studio demanded the violence be cut down due to the Columbine killings. The latest Scream movie commented on Gale Weather's terrible bangs as a nod to how Scream 3 is often ridiculed, seen as the weakest in the franchise and the provider of an unnecessary retcon - as from what is learned in the third movie, Billy Loomis and Stu Macher appear to just be Roman's lackeys. However, the series has the chance to redeem some elements of the film, notably with the possible return of Patrick Dempsey as Sidney's husband Mark Kincaid in the next movie.
Without Randy and in a bid to appease fans, the producers included his recording in Scream 3 as a compromise. With the latest Scream movie being a tribute to the original, there were rumors of a similar style return from the character - though in the end, Jamie Kennedy provided a voice cameo. However, the film did provide more in this vein than Scream 3, as Randy's sister, niece, and nephew were included as a tribute to and continuation of the character. That doesn't mean that the door is completely closed, though, as fan hype surrounding Randy's potential return are just as potent for Scream 6 as it was for Scream 3, meaning a potential future appearance could still be in the cards down the line.
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