THE trailer for 2022’s Scream has finally arrived.

2021 marks the ten year anniversary of Scream 4, the last entry in the long-running franchise that kicked off in 1996 with Wes Craven’s original movie, also titled Scream. 

The film kickstarted a revival of the teen slasher genre with its self-referential take on horror movies as a crazed killer dubbed Ghostface terrorized the citizens of Woodsboro. At the center of it all is Neve Campbell‘s Sidney Prescott – Campbell has returned for all three sequels and is set to make her return for the upcoming fourth film.

Courtney Cox and David Arquette are also returning as Gale Weathers and Dewey Riley, respectively. Marley Shelton will also be back as Judy Hicks after her first appearance in Scream 4. They will be joined by a slew of newcomers who are likely to be picked off by Ghostface one-by-one.

Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega, Jack Quaid, Dylan Minette, and Jasmin Savoy Brown are just some of the fresh faces in the franchise.

2022’s Scream will be the first film in the franchise to not have Craven at the helm after the prolific director passed away in 2015. Instead, Ready or Not directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett will direct the new entry and they spoken frequently about honoring Craven’s legacy.

Now, the first look at the film has arrived. The clip begins with an extended look at Jenna Ortega’s character, calling back to the opening scene of the original 1996 film featuring Drew Barrymore. The trailer then introducers viewers to the new group of Woodsboro citizens while also revealing that Ghostface is attacking people related to the original killers – Billy Loomis and Stu Macher.

Sidney, Gale, and Dewey are of course roped back in and, in bloody fashion, the movie’s brutal kills are teased in quick flashes.

Check out the trailer for Scream below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beToTslH17s

That Ghostface is after people related to Stu and Billy is interesting – could Scream be preparing to introduce the hidden offspring of those key characters?

As the original killers, their presence has loomed large over the franchise and, considering Scream’s interesting position in the franchise canon as a partial reboot, it seems likely that the film has some massive twists up its sleeve.

First look images at Scream have also shown a return to Stu’s house, the place where the original film’s bloodbath of a finale took place. By going back to its roots and riffing on its origins, it seems the franchise has finally figured out how to apply a meta lens once again by mining its own history.

Luckily, the Scream trailer is light on spoilers and even though it seems like Ortega’s character is the opening kill and several more Woodsboro teens look like they’re facing down death, it’s hard to say what’s truly in store for the highly anticipated film.

(ROHN ROMULO)