Warning: SPOILERS lie ahead for Scream 6!
Though propped up as a new final girl by the very same directors, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett reveal Scream 6 star Samara Weaving loved flipping her Ready or Not role. Weaving previously worked with the directing duo on the 2019 dark horror comedy and returned for the latest installment in the slasher franchise as film professor Laura Crane. Unlike her prior film, however, Weaving met her demise in Scream 6's opening at the hands of Tony Revolori's film student Jason, a fake-out for the typical Ghostface opening kill.
In honor of the film's recent release, director collective Radio Silence caught up with Fangoria to break down Scream 6. When asked about the film's opening, which saw them reunite with Ready or Not star Samara Weaving to kill her off, Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett revealed that writers James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick specifically wrote the character with her in mind and that she "flipped" for the idea of flipping her prior role. See what Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett explained below:
Bettinelli-Olpin: We found this out later, but that was who they thought of when they were writing it, they were thinking of Samara. So, it was naturally in the DNA of the script, and then when we got to that part in casting, we all also were like, “Oh, that should be Samara, this would be perfect!” So, we literally called her up on the way to dinner one night and by the time we were at dinner, she was like, “I’m in, I’ll be out there! Just tell me where to go and I’m on my way.”Gillett: We actually didn’t get into the details, we told her there’s a really cool role, we’ll send you the scene — because we wanted her to be as surprised by it as we were when we read it. We think ultimately the script is the best pitch for what that character is and goes through. [Chuckles] We sent it to her and she flipped for it and loved the idea of having survived Ready or Not that she would be the opening kill of this movie. [Laughs]
How Samara Weaving's Death Continues A Scream Tradition
Since it was first announced that Radio Silence would helm 2022's Scream rebootquel, those who fell in love with Ready or Not have been clamoring for Weaving to reunite with the directors in the film. When she was confirmed to be cast for Scream 6, excitement grew larger for the follow-up to one of the better reviewed sequels in the franchise, though there was also some trepidation of her unknown character being killed off at some point in the movie.
With the opening moments of Scream 6 confirming that her lack of marketing appearances was because she was the first victim, Weaving's death continued a unique franchise tradition that goes all the way back to the original. Drew Barrymore memorably was supposed to play Sidney Prescott before Neve Campbell in 1996's Scream until scheduling conflicts nearly derailed her appearance in the film at all, with the actor instead approaching Wes Craven about playing Casey Becker, one of the first two kills of the movie.
Considering her star power at the time, audiences were left shocked by Barrymore's death in the original Scream, upending expectations that familiar faces would be safe from Ghostface's blade. Subsequent sequels would take a similar approach, namely Scream 2 killing off Jada Pinkett Smith in the opening, despite featuring her on posters for the movie. While Weaving's Scream 6 death may have been more expected than that of Barrymore's, it still proved all the more thrilling for how it led into one of the franchise's more subversive openings.
Source: Fangoria