The hotly anticipated slasher sequel Scream 6 will now be coming to theaters earlier than expected. The long-running Scream franchise began in 1996 with the original Wes Craven classic penned by then-up-and-coming screenwriter Kevin Williamson. The film introduced perennial survivors Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox), and Dewey Riley (David Arquette) as they attempted to discover the identity of a killer known only as Ghostface who is stalking and killing the teenagers of Woodsboro, California.Over the years, multiple new killers took on the mantle of Ghostface in 1997's Scream 2, 2000's Scream 3, and 2011's Scream 4, which was Craven's final film. Although the series went dormant for the next decade, except for the short-lived MTV show Scream: The TV Series that was loosely inspired by the franchise, the legacy sequel Scream brought the franchise back to the big screen in January. The film was a box office success, and Scream 6 was greenlit on February 3.
Today, Paramount and the official Scream account shared a Tweet from Ghostface announcing that "I've updated my plans for you." The release date of Scream 6 - which is still currently untitled - has been moved to March 10, 2023. This is a full three weeks earlier than the originally planned release date of March 31, 2023.
Everything We Know About Scream 6
Because the film is a whodunit with many character deaths, plot details for Scream 6 are understandably being kept under wraps at the time of writing. However, it has been confirmed that the film will take place in New York City, where some surviving characters have moved after the events of the fifth Scream movie. The survivors who are being menaced by a new Ghostface killer include Billy Loomis' daughter Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera), her younger sister Tara (Jenna Ortega), their movie buff friend Mindy Meeks-Martin (Jasmine Savoy Brown), her jock twin brother Chad (Mason Gooding), and returning legacy character Gale Weathers.
In a disappointing development for fans of the series, Scream final girl Sidney Prescott will not be returning due to a contract dispute between Neve Campbell and the Scream 6 producers. However, the film will feature the return of fan-favorite Scream 4 character Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere), whose survival was teased in an Easter egg in Scream. The rest of the cast also includes Dermot Mulroney, Henry Czerny, Samara Weaving, Tony Revolori, and She-Hulk's Josh Segarra.
Source: Paramount