Scream 4
Scream 4 is a 2011 American slasher film directed by Wes Craven and written by Kevin Williamson. Produced by Outerbanks Entertainment and distributed by Dimension Films, it is the sequel to Scream 3 and the fourth installment in the Scream film series. The film stars David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Emma Roberts, Hayden Panettiere, Anthony Anderson, Alison Brie, Adam Brody, Rory Culkin, Marielle Jaffe, Erik Knudsen, Mary McDonnell, Marley Shelton and Nico Tortorella. The film takes place on the fifteenth anniversary of the original Woodsboro murders from Scream and involves Sidney Prescott returning to the town after ten years, where Ghostface once again begins killing students from Woodsboro High. Like its predecessors, Scream 4 combines the violence of the slasher genre with elements of black comedy and "whodunit" mystery to satirize the clichés of film remakes. The film also provides commentary on the extensive usage of social media and the obsession with internet fame.
The series was originally intended to be a trilogy. However, in June 2008, the Weinstein Company announced a fourth film was in development, with Craven confirmed to direct in March 2010. In September 2009, Arquette, Campbell, and Cox were announced to be returning, after which the casting process lasted between April and September 2010. Principal photography began in June 2010 and ended in September that same year, taking place in and around Ann Arbor, Michigan. Scenes set around Woodsboro High School were filmed at Woodworth Middle School in Dearborn, Michigan. Ehren Kruger, who previously wrote the screenplay for Scream 3, was hired for script rewrites during production. Reshoots were filmed in early 2011, following test screenings.
Scream 4 premiered at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles on April 11, 2011, and was released in the United States on April 15, 2011, by Dimension Films. The film received mixed reviews from critics at the time of release, earning praise for the performances, direction, and humor but criticism for the lack of scares and reliance on clichéd formulas. However, many considered it to be an improvement over its predecessor, and it has enjoyed several positive reappraisals since, particularly for its prescient examination of the negative impact of social media. It grossed $97million worldwide on a budget of $40million, becoming the lowest-grossing film in the Scream franchise.
Scream 4 was the final film to be directed by Craven before his death in 2015. It was followed by the anthology television series Scream, which was developed for MTV without the involvement of the main cast or crew of the films, although Roger L. Jackson, who provided the voice of Ghostface in the films, returned to voice Ghostface in the third season. A fifth film, Scream, was released on January 14, 2022, by Paramount Pictures.
Plot
On the 15th anniversary week of the original Woodsboro murders, high school students Marnie Cooper and Jenny Randall are murdered by Ghostface. Sidney Prescott returns to Woodsboro the following day to promote her self-help book with her publicist, Rebecca Walters. After evidence is found in her rental car, Sidney becomes a prime suspect in the murders and must stay in town until they are solved.Sidney's teenage cousin, Jill Roberts, who is coping with the infidelity of her ex-boyfriend, Trevor Sheldon, gets a threatening phone call from Ghostface, as does her friend Olivia Morris. Jill and Olivia, alongside their friend Kirby Reed, are questioned about their calls by Dewey Riley, now the county sheriff, while his deputies Judy Hicks, Anthony Perkins, and Ross Hoss assist him in the case. Gale Weathers, Dewey's wife, is struggling with writer's block and decides to investigate the murders against her husband's wishes. That night, as Sidney stays over with Jill and her aunt Kate, Olivia is brutally murdered by Ghostface as Jill and Kirby watch in horror from across the street. Sidney herself is then confronted by Ghostface, and they fight until Ghostface is forced to flee when Perkins and Hoss arrive.
At the hospital, Sidney fires Rebecca after learning of her desire to exploit the murders to increase book sales. Rebecca is subsequently murdered by Ghostface at a parking garage. Gale enlists the help of two high school cinephiles, Charlie Walker and Robbie Mercer. Charlie theorizes that the killer is following the rules of horror remakes, and Gale and Sidney conclude that the killer will likely strike at the "Stab-a-thon", a screening party held in a barn where teenagers gather to binge watch all seven installments of the Stab franchise. Gale sneaks into the party to investigate, but Ghostface attacks her, stabbing her in the shoulder. Hoss and Perkins, who were assigned to guard Jill's house, are also murdered. Sidney discovers through another taunting call from Ghostface that Jill has left for Kirby's, before Ghostface attacks her and Kate, killing the latter.
Jill, Kirby, Charlie, Robbie, and Trevor arrive for an after-party at Kirby's house when Ghostface strikes, killing a drunken Robbie. Sidney arrives to leave with Jill, but they are both chased by Ghostface. As Sidney calls Dewey and tries to find Jill, Kirby frees Charlie, who was bound and gagged, but he immediately stabs her, revealing himself as Ghostface before leaving her to bleed out. Sidney is confronted by Charlie and a second Ghostface, who reveals herself as Jill. She admits to masterminding the murders out of jealousy of the fame that Sidney received for surviving the previous killing sprees and desires to achieve clout as a pseudo-victim of the murders, intending to frame Trevor as Ghostface. Jill kills Trevor and betrays Charlie, stabbing him to death to pin him as Trevor's accomplice so she can be the sole survivor. She then stabs Sidney and injures herself to frame Trevor further.
Dewey and the police arrive and Sidney and Jill are taken to the hospital. After discovering that Sidney has survived, an enraged Jill goes to her hospital room and makes a final attempt to kill her. At the same time, Dewey and Gale deduce that Jill was one of the killers due to a comment she made about Gale's attack that was not public knowledge. Dewey, Gale and Judy rush to aid Sidney, but Jill subdues them. During the commotion, Sidney is able to electrocute Jill with a defibrillator and shoot her in the heart, finally killing her. As Dewey calls for backup, reporters outside erroneously name Jill as a "hero right out of the movies".
Cast
Production
Development
Scream 4 was announced by the Weinstein Company in July 2008, with Wes Craven saying that he would not mind directing the film if the script were as good as Scream. Kevin Williamson, the writer of Scream and Scream 2, confirmed his return in January 2010, stating that the fourth film's production would begin during the hiatus of his show The Vampire Diaries and that Craven would direct the film. In March 2010, it was confirmed that Craven would indeed direct.In May 2010, Cathy Konrad, who produced the first three films in the series, filed a $3million lawsuit against the Weinstein Company, alleging that they violated a written agreement that entitled her company, Cat Entertainment, first rights to produce all films in the series. The Weinsteins argued that this contract required Konrad's services be exclusive to the franchise, which Konrad calls "false pretext", claiming the previous film did not require this condition. The suit accused the Weinsteins of surreptitious behavior and "a scheme to force Plaintiffs to walk away from the Scream franchise without compensation," enabling them to cut costs by hiring someone else to produce. In April 2011, it was reported that the Weinsteins had settled out of court with Konrad, the details remaining confidential, though it was claimed that she would receive a cash payment plus a percentage of the profits from Scream 4.
Writing
Craven stated that there had been no "real life" Ghostface murders from between the decade time jump of Scream 3 to Scream 4 but that there had been numerous sequels to the film-within-a-film Stab. He also commented on the status of Sidney Prescott, "She's done her best to move on from the events that occurred in the previous films, even releasing a successful book". Craven said that endless sequels, the modern spew of remakes, film studios, and directors are the butts of parodies in the film. The main characters have to figure out where the horror genre is in current days to figure out the modern events happening to and around them. Williamson expressed his desire to tell a story in which the audience would really care about the characters, like Sidney Prescott, who survived the first three films, and focus on them rather than the next kill, in comparison to other horror films like those of the Saw franchise.In an early draft of the script, Gale and Dewey had a baby, but this was changed after it was decided bringing a baby into the film would make shooting "impossible". In another early form of the script, the opening scene had Sidney start fighting with Ghostface and be left for dead. There would have been a two-year gap in the story while she recovered; however, Bob Weinstein feared it would slow the pace of the story and bringing in young characters would work out best.
There were numerous other differences between the original script and the version that eventually reached the screen. For instance, the opening sequences were changed around, as can be seen in the alternative versions and deleted scenes on the DVD. Also, the Stabathon and the sequences involving Gale being attacked there did not appear in the original script. Another major difference was the ending. The hospital finale scenes were added on later in the writing process. The original script ended at the house, with Jill being loaded into the ambulance and speaking to Dewey, then agreeing to give the photographers one photo under the pretense that they would then leave her alone. Just then, a paramedic from inside the house shouts that they have a woman alive, not specified but assumed to be either Sidney or Kirby. The film would have ended on this cliffhanger, presumably setting Jill up as an antagonist/anti-heroine in the next film. There were rumors that Sidney would then possibly be suffering from amnesia in the next film, unable to recall that Jill was the killer. There were also rumors that Williamson was upset that this ending was changed.
Scream 3 writer Ehren Kruger was brought in during production to do re-writes. Craven said, "Look, there was a bumpy period when things shifted over from Kevin to Ehren. I signed up to do a script by Kevin and unfortunately that didn't go all the way through the shooting. But it certainly is Kevin's script and concept and characters and themes". Additional rewrites were made by Paul Harris Boardman. It was reported that the actors were not given the 140-page script past page 75 in order to protect the identity of the Ghostface killer.