Scream 4 filmed an alternate opening scene, and it would have been a better fit for the revival of the franchise. After an 11 year hiatus, the slasher franchise returned with Wes Craven at the helm. Much of the main cast also came back, including Neve Campbell in her iconic Final Girl role as Sidney Prescott. The focus shifted back to Woodsboro, but time around, a new batch of teenagers were at the focus. Emma Roberts' character, Jill, served as the link between the teens and Sidney, who happened to be her cousin.
On the fifteenth anniversary of the Woodsboro murders, a new version of Ghostface began targeting the small California town. Sidney just happened to be back in the area while promoting her latest book, causing her to become a suspect. With technology a factor in the killings, the film took a meta approach by presenting the murders in a similar fashion to the original massacre. After Sidney was joined by fellow Ghostface survivors Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) and Dewey Riley (David Arquette), the group eventually realized that Jill was the mastermind behind the mask.
As a callback to the famous opening scene in 1996's Scream, the fourth film in the franchise made an effort in creating a memorable first sequence. The opener went with the movie within a movie approach, featuring Trudie (Shenae Grimes, and Sherrie (Lucy Hale) as two victims of Ghostface in the in-universe movie Stab 6. That particular sequence was being watched by Chloe (Kristen Bell) and Rachel (Anna Paquin). It turned out that Chloe killed Rachel before it was revealed to be a scene in Stab 7, which was being watched by real Scream 4 characters named Marnie Cooper (Britt Robertson) and Jenny Randall (Aimee Teegarden). After pranking each other, Jenny found Marnie in a pool of her own blood before she, too, was killed by Ghostface. The alternate opening scene went a bit differently than the theatrical version.
Why Scream 4's Alternate Opening Was a Better Fit
Rather than spend time on the in-universe Stab franchise, the focus immediately went to Marnie and Jenny alone in the house. They each prank one another before agreeing to continue watching a horror movie. While Marnie went to the kitchen for snacks, Ghostface appeared, killing Jenny. The masked killer then quickly targeted Marnie without allowing a chase scene. After brutally stabbing Jenny a few times, the opening credits rolled. Here's a look into the alternate opening sequence.
While it was fun to see some of the most popular actresses from 2011 make cameos in the Scream 4 original opener, the alternate scene was quick and to the point. Whereas the theatrical version was quirky by relying on the meta approach of the franchise, the unused sequence didn't delay the return of the real Ghostface with the use of gags. By this point, fans already waited over a decade, so it was better to just get to the drama at hand.
The use of in-universe Stab films gave off a comedic tone that hampered the seriousness of Marnie and Jenny's deaths. The multiple fakeouts were a calculated risk, but the deaths of the teenage girls would have been made more impactful through the alternate opening. The movie had fun playing around with the tone of the franchise, but the opener had an important job to do. In hindsight, the Scream 4 cameo-filled sequence would have been a good fit for an end-credits scene or bonus material after the film's release rather than the actual opening.