One of the big twists in the original Scream is that Matthew Lillard‘s Stu is revealed to be one of the movie’s killers, ultimately being vanquished at the hands of Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott, and despite his demise in the debut outing, he would still be happy to return to the series somehow with the upcoming Scream 5. How that could possibly happen, given that the series often made its death pretty definitive, is another point entirely, with his excitement at the notion merely being rooted in the opportunity to revisit a character he played so early in his career after all the years he spent honing his craft.
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“Yes, yes, I’m available, yes, yes!” Lillard professed to TooFab when asked about his interest in returning for Scream 5. “There’s nobody that wouldn’t want to come back and reprise a role they got to do when they were a boy and be able to do something different as a man would be exciting. You just don’t get that opportunity often.”
The actor did confirm that, despite his excitement, he “can’t imagine” Stu returning for the upcoming film.
The last film in the franchise debuted in 2011, with the narrative then being reimagined for three seasons of a TV series on MTV. Given that Wes Craven, who directed all four films, passed away in 2015, fans have wondered how, or if, the franchise could ever be revived without him. The new project is moving forward with Ready or Not directors Matthew Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett.
In addition to rumors circling for years about whether a new film would be developed, one big question is whether it would be a sequel or a reboot.
“I’m surprised they haven’t come in and tried to reboot it, the franchise,” Lillard confessed. “Because it’s so iconic in terms of a franchise. So I’m surprised they haven’t really come in to screw it up yet.”
Campbell previously detailed that the filmmakers reached out to her and detailed how they intend to honor Craven with the new film, as Lillard detailed how protective the actress is of the series.
“I guarantee you Neve is a voracious protector of Wes like nobody else,” Lillard pointed out. “She won’t do it unless there’s a really clear idea that she’s excited about.”
While Campbell herself has confirmed that she has been in talks with the new filmmakers, no details have emerged about what the narrative of the new film would be and if it would feature a return of Sidney or if Campbell would just be involved to help oversee the project.
“I’m not surprised people still love to follow the journey of Sidney Prescott,” Lillard expressed. “I think that Neve was so endearing when she was young and people love that story and root for her and it’s kind of a really interesting ability to continue to tell a movie story over almost three generations. Three decades.”
Stay tuned for details on Scream 5.
Would you like to see Lillard somehow return to the series? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!
