Scream VI unleashes a spine-tingling first trailer and poster

This year's Scream 'rebootquel' successfully revitalised the flagging slasher franchise. As the fifth film in the meta comedy-horror series, Scream returned us to Woodsboro where a new iteration of the dreaded Ghostface killer went on the rampage.

Next year's Scream VI bucks the trend of small-town scares by taking the terror to the big city – New York, to be precise. Don't believe us? Here's the wonderfully eerie new trailer to prove it, with a tagline that gleefully riffs on the classic catchphrase from Alien (the sort of in-joke we'd expect from the knowing Scream universe).

Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega are back from the previous movie as sisters Sam and Tara Carpenter. They survived their earlier brush with Ghostface, but how can they be sure that isn't a copycat killer staring at them on the subway? It's a devious premise that disproves the notion that teeming, crowded environments are inherently safe.

It may well be an implicit reference to the movie premiere slaying that opened Scream 2 (1997), in which Jada Pinkett's Maureen was slaughtered in full view of a host of horror movie fans. Watch the Scream VI trailer below.

 

How's that for a preview? The earlier Scream 3 (2000), directed by series originator Wes Craven, moved the grisly action to the Hollywood backlot. However, we've never had a Scream movie set in a thronging urban metropolis before.

Here's the new poster, while we're at it. We're especially loving how they've incorporated the Roman numerals into the title.

Scream 6 movie poster


Scream V directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett are back at the helm, ready to uncork more scares and morbid, self-referential laughs along the way. However, one person who won't be back is series stalwart Sidney: actor Neve Campbell walked away from the movie following a dispute over pay.

That said, Courteney Cox's Gale Weathers will be back for another scrape with Ghostface. The cast also includes Mason Gooding, Jasmin Savoy Brown and Hayden Panettiere, variously reprising their roles from Scream V and Scream IV (2011). Series newcomers include Jack Champion, Henry Czerny, Liana Liberato, Dermot Mulroney, Devyn Nekoda, Tony Revolori, Josh Segarra, and Samara Weaving. 

In fact, Weaving reunites with Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett after their hugely successful horror-comedy Ready Or Not (2019). She was the survivor in that movie, so will she turn out to be the killer in Scream VI?

We'll find out when it slashes its way into Cineworld in March 2023.