'Scream' Reboot to Be Directed by 'Ready or Not' Filmmakers

The new Scream movie has its directors. Matthew Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, who helmed last year's acclaimed horror movie Ready or Not, will revitalize the Wes Craven-created franchise. The original 1996, which helped revitalize interest in the horror genre, was followed by four sequels and an MTV series.

Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett will direct with Chad Villella and original Scream writer Kevin Williamson as executive producers, reports Discussing Film. The producers are William Sherak, James Vanderbilt and Paul Neinstein.

The plot details are unknown, but Discussing Film's sources said it will follow a woman who returns to her home town to track down the cause of a series of crimes. The Hollywood Reporter reports it is still not clear if this will pick up the story from the previous movies to be a true Scream 5 or if this will reboot the franchise.

News that a Scream reboot was in the works surfaced back in November 2019, after Gary Barber's Spyglass Media Group picked up the rights to the franchise. The original four films were released by Dimension Films, which Bob and Harvey Weinstein created as a label within Miramax focusing on horror movies. Spyglass was launched last year by Barber with Lantern Entertainment co-presidents Andy Mitchell and Milos Brajovic and strategic investors Eagle Pictures and Cineworld Group, and is also developing a Hellraiser reboot.

The Scream franchise launched with the 1996 original film, which played on horror movie cliches for laughs and thrills, under the guidance of horror master Craven. The filmmaker directed three more sequels, with the fourth movie opening in 2011.

While the franchise remained dormant at the movies since then, Scream continues to hold a place in the popular lexicon thanks to the Ghostface villain. MTV also aired Scream the series, which ran three seasons between 2016 and 2019. The third season, titled Scream: Resurrection, told a whole new story.

Gillett, Bettinelli-Olpin and Villella make up the horror trio Radio Silence. Their other films include V/H/S (2012), Devil's Due (2014) and Southbound (2015).

In 2019, they found mainstream success with Ready or Not, written by Guy Busick and R. Christopher Murphy. The film mixed horror and comedy, with Samara Weaving playing a newlywed hunted by her husband's family the night of the wedding. The film was a sleeper hit last summer, making $57 million on a $6 million budget.

Photo credit: Dimension Films