Jamie Kennedy Confirms That Randy Is Still Very Dead In Scream 5

Wes Craven's horror hit "Scream" just turned 25, and we're still not ready to let this franchise go. The solution? Revive the story by adding a fifth movie to the saga, continuing the journey of the much-beloved characters. The long-surviving (and thoroughly exhausted) Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) is back for round five, and she's more than ready to take another Ghostface down. When the first film debuted back in 1996, the thrill of a teenage slasher was enough to attract attention, but the movie's lasting impact is owed to its meta-storytelling and overall cleverness. So while we don't quite know what to expect from the fifth installment, also titled "Scream," we can expect the trademark self-awareness to continue. 

Which has naturally led people to wonder — might we see the return of our favorite movie geek, Randy Meeks?

Jamie Kennedy's Randy Meeks stole the show in 1996's "Scream," when he first rattled off his famous rules for surviving a horror movie. Randy was a standout addition to an already incredible cast of characters, guiding our expectations by laying down some crucial movie knowledge. In the end, this made his tragic "exit" in "Scream 2" all the more difficult to watch. So with the fifth movie now on the way, folks are clamoring for answers. Could Randy possibly make his return? 

Kennedy was asked this very question in an interview with Collider, and seemed to agree with the popular fan response — it just wouldn't make sense. He said, "It's like, what rule can you break here?" Reflecting on Randy's legacy and whether he could ever return, Kennedy added:

"You love him so much, even more because you lost him so early in his life and his career and his rants. So if he came back, does it negate what you felt? For all purposes, I know I'm dead. I'm not involved in Scream 5. I'm deader than a doornail, and I was killed in the 90s."

Turns out, being an expert on all things horror movie related doesn't mean the rules don't apply. Randy's knowledge wasn't enough to save him back in '97 and isn't enough to bring him back to life. Or is it?

While Kennedy was fairly staunch about Randy's death being final, he couldn't help but consider the insane, alternate possibilities. In an interview for the 25th anniversary of "Scream," Kennedy told ScreenRant that there were definitely options to explain Randy's death, should the filmmakers decide on his return. According to Kennedy:

"[Randy] could have said, 'Listen, I got to fake my death because I didn't want to go out like that.' He had to go into hiding, but then that's really cold of him to leave his friends on the hook as he knows the rules. But, maybe he gave them ideas throughout the next couple of movies, subliminally. He did help with the videotape. He could have went to the mountain and become a bearded, crazy person or he could be involved in the murder somehow and he could be a bad guy."

Ultimately, Kennedy threw his weight behind the Randy Meeks we already know and love — horror fanatic and "love slave" to Sidney Prescott. While he could always be a bearded, crazed lunatic who faked his death two decades ago, Kennedy added, "I want to believe he's a good guy."

With or without Randy, the show must go on — and familiar faces will lead the way. Beloved final girl Sidney Prescott is returning to Woodsboro 25 years after the brutal murder streak that altered her life forever. She's joined by her reliable murder solving partners, Gale Weathers and Dewey Riley, and naturally, the Woodsboro survivors will be pushed to unmask yet another Ghostface, when a new killer dons the mask and targets a group of teenagers. The first trailer already teases the carnage.

"Scream" comes to theaters on January 14, 2022.