Scream 6 Directors Break Down Twisted Opening Scene

Wes Craven’s original Scream in 1996 completely upended the expectations of audiences with its very first scene, making it feel almost like a standalone short film that killed off Drew Barrymore, arguably the film’s biggest star. Since then, surprising opening scenes have become a staple for the Scream franchise, and the recently released Scream VI delivers the biggest scene one twists of the entire series. It should go without saying that there are MASSIVE Scream VI spoilers ahead…

Scream VI starts with a character played by Samara Weaving on a date, waiting for a guy she met online. That guy, played by Tony Revolori, turns out to be a killer, slaying his date/college professor in an alley while dressed up as Ghostface. It seems like Scream VI is about to include a character the audience knows is Ghostface from the very beginning, only to deliver one more twist when the character’s phone rings. The “real” Ghostface of the film kills the man who so badly wanted to be a Ghostface of his own.

This new opening scene flipped the script on the past Scream movies. Following the Scream VI debut, directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett spoke with EW about bringing the scene to life.

“Obviously, it was the first thing we read when we read the script,” Gillett said. “There is a standard that’s been set by these movies that the opening, as its own little contained short film, has to achieve something really specific, and set the tone for the rest of the movie, and also has to live up to what exists as the openings in the lineage of this franchise. This one for us was the most surprising and shocking.”

“It just felt like, oh, we are going to take some chances with this,” the director continued. “And if the audience is onboard, then they are going to be on board for the rest of the movie. At the end of the day, I think that’s the goal of the opening. How far can you push it? How far can you push the guard rails and hopefully set up a wild set of expectations for the audience with the movie moving forwards.”

As far as casting Weaving and Revolori, they were no-brainer decisions for the filmmakers. Weaving had starred in their 2019 breakout hit Ready or Not, and they always believed Revolori was perfect for the intro killer.

“We love her so much,” Bettinelli-Olpin said of Weaving. “It was so lovely to have her come and hang out; it was like old times. One of my favorite things is that she asked, ‘Do you guys mind if I use the Australian accent?’ We’re like, no, that would be great. We were talking to her at some point while we were shooting, and she said that this character is the closest she’s ever played to herself, where it’s kind of dorky and nerdy. She brought so much because she’s only in the movie for five minutes, and she has to do so much in those five minutes; you have to fall in love with her. You have to get scared when she goes into the alley. It takes like a real f—ing pro like Samara to be able to do that.”

“There was never any other option other than Tony either,” said Gillett. “He’s one of those characters that, with just the slightest adjustment in his expression, what is a friendly face can become something really sinister. He’s really good at walking that line.”

Scream VI is now playing in theaters.