(Updated 03/03/2023)
After ten long years away from the big screen, the SCREAM movie series carved out a new chapter with the 2022 sequel, SCREAM. (Aka SCREAM 5.) Now, in SCREAM VI, the characters from that revival, along with a couple of returning favorites from the previous movies, are relocating to New York City in the hopes of starting a new life.
Things won't be easy, of course. A new Ghostface doesn't want the Woodsboro survivors to remain as survivors for very long. You can read a lot more about SCREAM VI here — but first, let's look at a recap of the entire SCREAM movie series to set up who is in the new movie, and where they came from.
Note that spoilers for all the previous SCREAM movies follow.
Scream, The Original
As SCREAM begins, Sidney Prescott is mourning her murdered mother. Cotton Weary has been convicted of the murder, but his guilt remains in question. Sidney is dating Billy Loomis, who is so obviously a dirtbag that Sidney would probably never put up with him if she wasn't dealing with much heavier stuff in other aspects of her life.
Days before the anniversary of her mother's death, another young girl is murdered, beginning a deadly rampage that shakes the town of Woodsboro. As Sidney receives threatening phone calls, she begins to suspect that her boyfriend Billy is responsible for the killings. He's got a solid alibi, however. Young deputy Dewey Riley and the ambitious tabloid TV reporter Gale Weathers seek to uncover the truth behind the murders while many of Sidney‘s friends gather for a party. There we discover that Billy Loomis is in fact the killer — but he did not act alone. Stu Macher worked with Billy, and they were responsible for Sidney’s mother’s murder. They also framed Cotton Weary. Stu is killed by a falling television, while Sidney shoots Billy in the head.
Scream 2, The Sequel
Two years later, Sidney is trying to carry on with her life at college. But Ghostface returns, the killings begin again, and once more we’re not sure who is behind the mask. At the same time, the movie STAB, based on Sidney‘s real life experience, is released. Cotton Weary has been cleared of any charges and declared innocent, and released from jail. As Gale Weathers and Dewey try to uncover the killers, we finally discovered that Sydney‘s boyfriend‘s best friend Mickey played by Timothy Olyphant, is the killer — but once again, he is not acting alone. Billy Loomis his mother, Debbie, who has been pretending to be a rival TV reporter for Gail Weathers, is Mickey’s accomplice. She wants revenge for the death of her son, and also feels a little bit salty about Sydney‘s mother having had an affair with her ex-husband. Meanwhile, Mickey just wanted to be notorious as a killer, and hoped to bolster his film studies CRED.
Scream 3, The Closing Chapter
Much of the plot of SCREAM 3 takes place on the set of STAB 3. Cotton WeAry — now a talk show host who trades on his experiences in the prior movies for fame — is Ghostface’s first victim. Soon the cast of STAB 3 is sliced and diced by Ghostface as Sidney, Gail, and Dewey attempt to make sense of the latest violence.
And, once again, Sidney's late mother, Maureen, is a motivating factor here. Before Sidney was born, her mom had a minor acting career. Maureen was sexually assaulted, resulting in a pregnancy. She kept the baby, and the boy grew up to be… STAB 3 director Roman Bridger! In addition to being this movie's Ghostface, Roman also executed a manipulative plan that resulted in the murders seen in both of the prior SCREAM movies. This makes him sound like a pretty dangerous guy… who is nonetheless shot and killed by Dewey.
Scream 4, The New Generation
While the last movie was originally designed as the end of the series, eleven years later Ghostface went back to work in SCREAM 4. Sidney has written a book about her experiences; Dewey is now the Woodsboro sheriff; and Gale, married to Dewey, is trying to figure out what her next career step should be. Naturally, a new spate of Ghostface killings begins on the 15th anniversary of the original murders.
The new Ghostface is targeting teens, including Sidney's cousin Jill… who turns out to be the new Ghostface. She's working with Charlie, a film fan who hopes to make his own movie and is basically staging the violence as a way to "remake" the original murders. He kills Jill's best friend, Kirby (or does he?), and is in turn killed by Jill when she tries to tie up loose ends. Sidney is forced to shoot her own cousin to stop the rampage.
Scream, The Requel
It's now the 25th anniversary of the original rampage. Dewey and Gale are divorced; Dewey lives as a troubled recluse while Gale is a successful television morning show host in New York City. Sidney lives far from Woodsboro. When a new murderous rampage begins, it doesn't take long to realize that the new victims are all related to people involved in previous Ghostface crimes. The first victim, Tara, has a half-sister, Sam, whose biological father is Billy Loomis. Oh, and one scene reveals that Kirby did not die in SCREAM 4, though it's presented more as an easy-to-miss Easter egg. (And now we know that she appears in SCREAM VI.)
Sam and her boyfriend Richie visit Dewey to seek help. He reluctantly agrees, and an attempt to warn Gale brings her running back to Woodsboro. Dewey is killed by Ghostface, which brings Sidney back to town. Gale and Sidney follow Sam, Tara and Richie as they end up at a party… which is being held in the house that once belonged to Stu Macher, which means it's also the site of the climactic events of the original SCREAM. Richie and Tara's friend Amber — both huge STAB fans who bonded on Reddit over their feeling that the series had gone downhill — are revealed as Ghostface. They're trying to bring the original cast back together for a new murder spree that can revitalize the movie series. Sam and Tara and two friends escape, along with Gale and Sidney.
And that's where things stand as SCREAM VI opens. But two more notes before we go…
The Scream TV Series
As far as we know, none of the characters from the three seasons of the "Scream" TV series will appear in the new movie. So we're not going to go into it here. We will say this: If you haven't seen any of the "Scream" series, the second season at least is worth a look!
The Stab Movie Series
While the SCREAM movie series chronology is pretty straightforward, there's one additional factor to consider: the STAB movies. These are the in-universe films originally based on the life and experiences of Neve Campbell's character Sidney Prescott.
We're not recapping those movies here, but we do expect that some aspect of the STAB movie series will play a part in the new movie. When we left off, the last released movie was the widely-disliked STAB 8 — the unrelated sequel that made fans so angry that two of them orchestrated a murder spree in response.
SCREAM VI opens on March 10.
All images courtesy of Paramount Pictures.