Scream VI directors: “We had some apprehension.”

If you’ve seen the new trailer for Scream VI,  then you know the franchise is going to a whole new location for the latest movie, with our group of survivors heading to New York. Not only that, but we’ve been promised a different kind of Ghostface.

Watch the latest trailer here…

Scream VI is a direct follow-up to 2022’s successful Scream ‘requel’ from directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett and the duo are back for more Ghostface action, along with producer Chad Villella.

We still have a while until Scream VI is released this March but we just couldn’t wait until then and had to find out more…

What can we expect from Scream VI?

Tyler Gillett: You can expect an amplified and distilled version of what we’ve always loved about the Scream franchise. There’s [also] genuine emotional character work. There are really fun chase, action, and kill set pieces. It’s fun. It’s a really really good time, this one.

What was it like getting everyone back together after 2022’s Scream?

Matt Bettinelli-Olpin: It was a dream come true.

We had some apprehension about it because the fifth movie, our first one, Scream 2022 felt like such a magical experience. I think going into this one we were worried about trying to replicate that and I think we sort of threw that out and were like, ‘fuck it. This has to be its own thing.’

In doing that, it became another magical experience for us. So that was really special.

It was just great seeing everybody. The funny thing is, it’s only been a year, but everybody feels so much more mature. They all feel like they’ve really grown up and been through some things and so there’s a lot of fun texture to all the characters in this one if you watch them side by side.

Chad Villella: I can’t express how much love we have for every single cast member and everybody who was involved in both movies and also the new family members that we brought in for this one.

We’ve been very lucky and very fortunate. I think all of us are aware of it, and just really embrace all of our time together.

Scream 2022 was a big success – what do you think it was about that movie that captured audiences’ attention?

Chad Villella: Hopefully it was a little bit of staying true to the tradition of what Scream is and what Scream can be for fans and for people who love movies.

I think it’s part of the daily conversation about what makes both a great horror movie and just a movie in general because there are so many wonderful elements that you can express.

At the end of the day, it’s a really fun whodunnit. You have that mystery element at play as well. I think all of those things combined make it just one of the best franchises in movies ever. We pinch ourselves every day that we’re a part of it, and get to continue the story forward.

Was there anything you wanted to expand upon from the last movie for this one?

Tyler Gillett: You always learn unexpected things. I think that goes for the process of making it but also just what path the story should take. What we learned on the last one was that we had a real opportunity to bring this franchise back into people’s lives, and that there were things that we had to do to achieve that. A lot of what we had to do was really pay homage to the movies that came before and recognise and show people that we understood that we were in a lineage of movies that we consider ourselves to be just deep, deep, deep fans of. So we had to play the greatest hits.

I think what we learned having played the greatest hits, is that Scream VI wouldn’t be the right kind of movie if we showed up and did the same thing – if we played the greatest hits again.

That isn’t to say that this isn’t a Scream movie in all the ways that I think people hope for and are going to feel comfortable experiencing, but we had to challenge ourselves and challenge the material of what this franchise is and could be. So we learned that we had to cut the brake lines on this movie. There’s an energy in this movie, in New York. The process just feels challenging and a really fun risk. We hope that people see that in the movie.

The trailer shows that Scream VI will take place in New York – how will the setting change affect the Scream formula?

Matt Bettinelli-Olpin: It puts a lot of it in public. That is a big change. We learned from the last one and then were able to really apply to this one – because it was set in New York – is that we were able to do these really big set pieces in this one and these chase scenes that I think in the last one for budgetary reasons we just weren’t able to do.

In this one, once it was set in New York… when Guy [Busick] and Jamie [Vanderbilt] were writing it, they were really meticulous about setting up these set pieces that were very New York-specific. A lot of it deals with fear of public places and being alone in a crowd. That’s something we haven’t really seen in Scream yet. So it’s a new flavour that was super fun for us to create.

The trailer also promises a whole new Ghostface – what does that mean?

Tyler Gillett: I think what’s very different about this Ghostface is that there is a fearlessness and a relentlessness. Obviously, that slasher icon has always been terrifying and brazen and relentless, but because of the setting and because of what that setting forced us to achieve, that character has to take some risks and some chances that maybe we haven’t seen before.

We love the pratt-falling Ghostface, he has a dear place in our hearts. This Ghostface is very physical and very capable in ways that are genuinely, genuinely terrifying.

Scream 2022 was very meta – will you be going down a similar path for Scream VI?

Matt Bettinelli-Olpin: We kept going back to this idea that we had to just not do what we did in Scream V. That was fun to build in all those Easter Eggs and be super meta, and there is a level of that for sure because I think we’d be disappointed as fans if Scream wasn’t aware of itself. The movies kind of have to be on some level.

But one of the things in this one that I think is really fun is that a lot of that meta-ness gets baked into the plot in a very intentional way. So it’s a different approach to it.

What are you looking forward to audiences seeing in Scream VI?

Tyler Gillett: Everybody in the returning cast I think and this goes across the board, the newcomers are incredible as well. There’s a level of depth and nuance and emotion in those relationships, specifically between Sam and Tara, Melissa [Barrera] and Jenna [Ortega]’s characters that I think people are going to just… it feels really good.

What’s happening emotionally at the heart of this movie is really complicated. It’s a big, fun, action horror slasher, but there’s a real heart and those characters – and those two actors – represent it so well. This one has a surprising level of emotional depth.

Matt Bettinelli-Olpin: One of the things we all love in movies is when there are really well-designed stand-up-and-cheer moments. We really just took the time to make sure that we had a few of those where if you’re on board with the movie and you’re connecting with the characters, there are a few moments that hopefully will just really be satisfying.

Chad Villella: The movie is fun. Just go with a big group of people and just have a blast!

We certainly shall!

Scream 6 will be in cinemas on 8 March 2023. Watch more trailers at the SciFiNow You Tube channel.