Scream: Courteney Cox Says New Film Is "Not Scream 5," Is a "Brand-New Launch"

After a lukewarm reception for Scream 4 and the death of franchise creator Wes Craven, audiences could be forgiven for assuming that the franchise was finished -- or at least, assuming that by the time it resurfaced, it would be with a completely new creative regime and a hot, young cast. The return of franchise favorites like David Arquette, Courteney Cox, and Neve Campbell surprised a lot of people, and since then, the people behind the forthcoming reimagining have largely managed to keep a lid on their plans. Actually, that seems to have become a bit of an obsession for the filmmakers.

Recently, a report emerged that with directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett being so committed to maintaining the film's mysteries, alternate cuts of the project exist in hopes of thwarting anyone from leaking the identity of the film's killer, or killers. This doesn't appear to be the result of multiple cuts of the same movie, as has been rumored with movies like Freddy Vs. Jason, but rather footage shot specifically to make it harder to spoil.

One thing we do know, though; according to Cox, the upcoming, fifth installment of the fan-favorite horror-comedy franchise will not be a direct sequel to Scream 4. Rather, she characterizes the new Scream as a fresh start, likely in the vein of recent movies like Halloween, which ignored all of the sequels and acted as a follow-up only to the 1978 original. Given the gleefully meta approach the original Scream took to the horror genre, it would stand to reason that any ambitious sequel to the film would also comment on horror trends of the moment.

It all came up in the context of an interview on The Drew Barrymore Show, which you can see below.

"This is the fifth one… it's not Scream 5, though," Cox says in the video. "This is Scream. The directors are incredible, they're making it absolutely…it's a new franchise."

The directors are Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett of the filmmaking group Radio Silence, who became among the most sought-after filmmakers in the genre space following the success of their Ready Or Not.

Cox added, "It's hip. It's scary. It's just a new Scream. It's not a reboot, it's not a remake, it's just a brand new launch. I think it's gonna be fantastic."

The new Scream lands in theaters on January 14, 2022.

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