New 'Scream' Sequel Will Bring Courteney Cox Back Again As Gale Weathers

Do you like scary movies? Friends star Courteney Cox certainly does, because she has just officially signed on for her fifth Scream movie, once again reprising her role as reporter Gale Weathers. Get more details about Paramount's relaunch of the horror franchise below.

Wes Craven, who directed all four existing Scream films, died in 2015, so Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett of the filmmaking group Radio Silence are taking over for this new version, which is apparently taking a page out of the Halloween (2018) playbook and just going by the title Scream. If you don't recognize those filmmakers by name, they're the ones who directed last year's Ready or Not and segments of horror anthology films like V/H/S and Southbound. Evidently they had a pitch that honors Craven's legacy, and they seem to have convinced most of the major players to get on board.

Cox, whose Gale Weathers character was instrumental in the downfall of the killer in 2011's Scream 4, joins her former real-life husband David Arquette as part of the new Scream cast, with Arquette reprising his role as Dewey Riley. This press release promises that more casting announcements will be coming soon, and we can only assume that means that Neve Campbell will be back as Sidney Prescott, the "final girl" from all four previous Scream movies. We know she's been negotiating her return, so hopefully they can reach an agreement and the complete original trio will be back for this new installment.

"We can't imagine 'Scream' without the iconic Gale Weathers and are so incredibly thrilled and humbled to have the opportunity to work with Courteney," Radio Silence said in a statement. "We're absolute mega fans of her work and we're so excited to join her in the next chapter of the 'Scream'  saga!"

While screenwriter Kevin Williamson has long been the brains behind this franchise, he's stepping into an executive producer role for this entry while James Vanderbilt (Murder Mystery, Zodiac, The Amazing Spider-Man) and Guy Busick (Ready or Not, Castle Rock) write the screenplay this time. The production is aiming to film in Wilmington, North Carolina, but it's unclear exactly what the timeline will be on both the filming and the movie's ultimate release, thanks to the coronavirus pandemic.

As for Cox, she'll soon be seen on HBO Max's much-hyped Friends reunion special, and she'll also be showing up on a Starz horror comedy series called Shining Vale.