Original Scream franchise writer Kevin Williamson reveals that he initially had a very different story in mind for Sidney Prescott in Scream 4, 5, and 6. Introduced in Wes Craven’s 1996 franchise-starter, Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott has played a crucial role in five out of the six movies in the franchise. Williamson penned the first four movies, all of which feature Sidney as the central protagonist, something that changes in the 2022 legacy sequel under new writers James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick.
In a recent interview on the Happy Horror Time podcast (via THR), Williamson reveals that, if he had written 2022’s Scream and this year’s Scream 6, he would’ve taken Sidney’s story in a different direction. According to Williamson, the movies would have been more focused on Sidney’s romantic life. Check out his full comment below:
“Scream IV, V, and VI, would have been [about] the love story of Sidney Prescott, and it would’ve been this whole thing of she’s falling in love, she’s going to get married, it’s all based around her marriage when these murders start happening again. It’s like, is this man that she’s in love with the killer again? Is she Billy Loomis-ing herself all over again? Is she still making the wrong decisions? Is she still choosing the bad guy?”
Williamson’s Original Scream Plan Would’ve Totally Changed The Franchise
2022’s Scream, the fifth movie in the franchise, ultimately takes things in a very different direction. A reboot sequel, or “requel” as characters in the movie refer to it, the 2022 film drastically changes Sidney’s role. Instead of being the main focus of the story, as she was in all previous installments, the film relegates her to more of a mentor and supporting figure, with new characters played by Jenna Ortega and Melissa Barrera taking center stage in a story that pushes the franchise forward while also calling back to its roots.
It’s not clear why Williamson didn’t get to go with his original plan for Scream 4, but the latest two sequels, especially, would’ve been drastically affected by this new trajectory. Williamson seemingly had no intention of playing 2022’s Scream as a “requel” and introducing younger stars to serve as the main focus of the franchise moving forward.
2022’s Scream reveals through dialogue that Sidney married Patrick Dempsey’s Mark Kincaid, who was introduced the third movie in 2000. While Williamson doesn’t specify, it seems likely that the story he had planned would see Sidney falling in love with an entirely new character who is far more mysterious. With Sidney taking center stage in Williamson’s planned Scream sequels, it’s very likely that Courteney Cox’s Gale and David Arquette’s Dewey would also have featured prominently in the stories.
