The New 'Scream' Movie Will Pay Respect To The Previous Four Films

It certainly seems like the new Scream movie (which is the fifth film in the franchise but confusingly just called Scream again) is going to be a direct sequel to the previous four films and not a reboot. Even though the sequel angle was apparent due to returning cast members like Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, and David Arquette, there was always a chance that the new Scream could follow in the footsteps of 2018's Halloween, which was both a direct sequel to the original Halloween and a reboot because it ignored all the subsequent sequels. But according to directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, the new Scream movie directly connects to the previous four films.

There was some grumbling in the horror community last week when it was revealed that Scream 5 was going to just be called Scream again. This isn't without precedent – the 2011 prequel to John Carpenter's The Thing was just called The Thing, and 2018's Halloween reboot just went ahead and used Halloween as its official title. But what are we to make of the new Scream? Is it a reboot like Halloween – one that brings back original cast members but ignores much of the mythology? Or is it going to be a direct sequel?

According to directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, Scream 2022 is definitely going to honor the sequels before it. "There's just so much weight in what those four movies are," Gillett said (via CinemaBlend). "This by the way speaks to the legacy characters. The fact that there are so many characters that so many people want to know more about, want to have more story told with these characters."

The director continued:

"The fact that there are so many characters that so many people want to know more about, want to have more story told with these characters. There's just a level of love and respect for the world that Wes [Craven] and Kevin [Williamson] created. So for us it felt like the only way to do this right was to create connectivity. And a lot of it is also just what the Scream movies are, right? They're about lineage. They're about the evolution of pop culture and the evolution of the genre. And you can't have something new without also giving a nod to what came before it. And paying respect, and giving a bow to what followed."

Gillett also said that the film will have a "connection to the past" while creating "new and interesting characters that would bring a new audience and an old audience together." In summary: Scream is a sequel, not a reboot. And that's good to know – although we still really have no idea what the plot of the movie will entail.

Scream is set to open on January 14, 2022.