Spoiler warning: This article contains Scream spoilers.
The new Scream packs extensive franchise history into a film dedicated to Wes Craven‘s memory. That history doesn’t just shape the story; it offers fans a slew of references, Easter eggs, and even fun surprise cameos to track.
Bloody Disgusting chatted with directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett and executive producer Chad Villella about Scream‘s impressively long list of nods and Easter eggs. The chat revealed major surprises about legacy cameos hidden throughout…
Stu Lives! …Sort of.
Actor Matthew Lillard has been vocal about wanting to return to the franchise, even if it seemed a safe bet that his character, Stu Macher, did indeed meet his demise thanks to heroine Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell). The filmmakers found an appropriately hilarious way to bring Lillard back into the fold, as flamethrower Ghostface glimpsed in the Stab 8 YouTube trailer.
Gillett explained, “Matthew Lillard does the voice of flamethrower Ghostface, ‘this shit is lit.'”
“Yeah, he’s been around to help us when we’ve asked. He’s been great through this whole process. He did some voice ADR for us,” Bettinelli-Olpin said. He then revealed a surprising meta-joke, “He also did a line at the party. There’s a line when Amber’s walking through the party, there’s a couple right before she turns into the kitchen, and Matthew Lillard’s ADR is “Cool house Freeman,” which we thought was funny because it’s his house.”
Gillett added, “That was an early joke… we thought that’d be funny to have Matt Lillard comment on how cool the house is; that just ended up actually happening.”
Casey Becker, too?!
Lillard wasn’t the only legacy cast member to lend their voice to an audio cameo. The filmmakers sought out all cast and crew members tied to the franchise. That included Casey Becker actress Drew Barrymore, whose audio cameo is intentionally timed as a nod to the original Scream‘s shocking opener.
“There’s a little bit of everybody in there. Drew is in the movie. She is the principal making announcements at the beginning of the movie when the camera pans down from the tree to find our new cast at the picnic tables. Drew did the principal announcement, and that’s just one of many, many.” Villella said.
The timing of her voiceover comes hot on the heels of the opening attack on Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega), an intentional wink to the 1996 film per Bettinelli-Olpin. “We thought that was fun too because that’s the same first scene after her death in the original.”
A Cast and Crew Toast to Wes Craven
One of the more meta moments comes in the film’s third act, staged at Stu Macher’s house, where Amber (Mikey Madison) is throwing a party “For Wes,” a dual reference to the character Wes Hicks (Dylan Minnette) and the film’s dedication to Wes Craven.
While the party-going teens toast to Wes Hicks’ memory, the filmmakers enlisted everyone associated with Craven to provide an ADR toast to his memory.
Gillett runs down many involved: “Then we got Jamie Kennedy to come back, he does the line, “Someone’s goofy ass dad is kicking us out at the party.” Henry Winkler, Adam Brody, Hayden Panettiere they all are a part of the toast, the “to Wes” toast, Patrick Lussier, Marco Beltrami, Wes’ widow Iya [Labunka]. We got everyone who knows Wes, including Julie Plec. Their voices are all in that big toast at the party at the end.”
The idea to bring in as many legacy cast and crew members was there from the start, Villella explained. “Honestly, all the nods to all the involvement of the original cast, I think is something that we wanted to take into consideration when we were making this. Let’s get everybody back. Let’s bring back as many people as we can. Once we knew Skeet [Ulrich] and Billy were coming back, really, we can layer in the voices of these other actors in a way. I mean, honestly, we’re dedicating this move for Wes. We should include everybody from the entire Scream family.”
Stay tuned for more of our chat with Bettinelli-Olpin, Gillett, and Villella breaking down the new movie’s many deep-cut references, nods, and Easter eggs!