''Scream 2'' is a 1997 American
slasher film
A slasher film is a genre of horror films involving a killer stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools like knife, chainsaw, scalpel, etc. Although the term "slasher" may occasionally be used informally as a ...
directed by
Wes Craven
Wesley Earl Craven (August 2, 1939 – August 30, 2015) was an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and editor. Craven has commonly been recognized as one of the greatest masters of the horror genre due to the cultural imp ...
and written by
Kevin Williamson. It stars
Neve Campbell
Neve Adrianne Campbell (born October 3, 1973; ) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her work in the drama and horror genres. She has appeared on ''People'' magazine's list of "50 Most Beautiful People" twice.
Following a series of minor ...
,
David Arquette
David Arquette (born September 8, 1971) is an American actor and former professional wrestler. He is best known for his role as Dewey Riley in the slasher film franchise ''Scream'', for which he won a Teen Choice Award and two Blockbuster Enter ...
,
Courteney Cox
Courteney Bass Cox (previously Courteney Cox Arquette; born June 15, 1964) is an American actress and filmmaker. She gained international recognition for her starring role as Monica Geller on the NBC sitcom '' Friends'', which aired from 1994 ...
,
Sarah Michelle Gellar
Sarah Michelle Prinze ( ; born April 14, 1977) is an American actress. After being spotted at the age of four in New York City, she made her screen acting debut in the television film ''An Invasion of Privacy'' (1983). A leading role on the te ...
,
Jamie Kennedy
James Harvey Kennedy (born May 25, 1970) is an American actor and comedian. He has played Randy Meeks in the ''Scream'' franchise (1996–2000) and a multitude of characters in ''The Jamie Kennedy Experiment'' (2002–2004) on The WB. His othe ...
,
Laurie Metcalf
Laura Elizabeth Metcalf (born June 16, 1955) is an American actress. Often described as a character actor, she's known for her complex and versitile roles across the stage and screen. She has received various accolades throughout her career sp ...
,
Jerry O'Connell
Jerry O'Connell (born February 17, 1974) is an American actor and television host. He is known for his roles as Quinn Mallory in the television series ''Sliders'', Andrew Clements in ''My Secret Identity'', Vern Tessio in the film '' Stand by M ...
,
Elise Neal
Elise Demetria Neal (born March 14, 1966) is an American actress. Her big break came with three 1997 films, appearing in ''Rosewood'', '' Money Talks'' and ''Scream 2''.
From 1998 to 2002, Neal starred as Yvonne Hughley in the ABC/UPN sitcom ' ...
,
Timothy Olyphant
Timothy David Olyphant ( ; born May 20, 1968) is an American actor. He made his acting debut in an off-Broadway theater in 1995, in ''The Monogamist'', and won the Theatre World Award for his performance, and then originated David Sedaris' ''Th ...
,
Jada Pinkett
Jada Koren Pinkett Smith (; née Pinkett; born September 18, 1971) is an American actress and talk show host. She is co-host of the Facebook Watch talk show '' Red Table Talk'', for which she has received a Daytime Emmy Award. ''Time'' named ...
and
Liev Schreiber
Isaac Liev Schreiber (; born October 4, 1967) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and narrator. He became known during the late 1990s and early 2000s after appearing in several independent films, and later mainstream Hollywoo ...
. The film was released on December 12, 1997, less than a year after the
first
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
, by
Dimension Films
Dimension Films is an American film production company owned by Lantern Entertainment. It was formerly used as Harvey and Bob Weinstein's label within Miramax, which was acquired by The Walt Disney Company on June 30, 1993, to produce and relea ...
, as the second installment in the
''Scream'' film series. It was followed by three sequels, ''
Scream 3
''Scream 3'' is a 2000 American slasher film directed by Wes Craven and written by Ehren Kruger. It stars Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Courteney Cox, Parker Posey, Patrick Dempsey, Scott Foley, Lance Henriksen, Matt Keeslar, Jenny McCarthy ...
'' (2000), ''
Scream 4
''Scream 4'' (stylized as ''SCRE4M'') is a 2011 American slasher film directed by Wes Craven and written by Kevin Williamson. Produced by Outerbanks Entertainment and distributed by Dimension Films, it is the fourth installment in the ''Scream ...
'' (2011), and ''
Scream
Scream may refer to:
*Screaming, a loud vocalization
Amusement rides
* Scream (Heide Park), a gyro drop tower in Soltau, Germany
* Scream! (ride), a tower ride at Six Flags Fiesta Texas and Six Flags New England
* Scream! (roller coaster), at ...
'' (2022). ''Scream 2'' takes place two years after the
first film and again follows the character of
Sidney Prescott
Sidney Prescott is a fictional character and the protagonist of the ''Scream'' franchise. The character was created by Kevin Williamson and is portrayed by Canadian actress Neve Campbell. She first appeared in '' Scream'' (1996) followed by fou ...
(Campbell), and other survivors of the Woodsboro massacre, at the fictional Windsor College in
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
, where they are targeted by a
copycat
Copycat refers to a person who copies some aspect of some thing or somebody else.
Copycat may also refer to:
Intellectual property rights
* Copyright infringement, use of another’s ideas or words without permission
* Patent infringement, a v ...
killer using the guise of
Ghostface. Like its predecessor, ''Scream 2'' combines the violence of the slasher genre with elements of comedy, satire and "
whodunit
A ''whodunit'' or ''whodunnit'' (a colloquial elision of "Who asdone it?") is a complex plot-driven variety of detective fiction in which the puzzle regarding who committed the crime is the main focus. The reader or viewer is provided with the cl ...
" mystery while satirizing the
cliché
A cliché ( or ) is an element of an artistic work, saying, or idea that has become overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, even to the point of being weird or irritating, especially when at some earlier time it was consi ...
of film
sequel
A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...
s.
Williamson provided a five-page outline for a sequel to ''Scream'' when auctioning his original script, hoping to entice bidders with the potential of buying a franchise. Following a successful
test screening
A test screening is a preview screening of a movie or television show before its general release to gauge audience reaction. Preview audiences are selected from a cross-section of the population and are usually asked to complete a questionnaire or ...
of ''Scream'' and the film's financial and critical success, Dimension moved forward with the sequel while ''Scream'' was still in theaters, with the principal cast all returning to star, Craven to direct and Beltrami to provide music.
The film suffered controversy following its significant issues with plot information
leaking onto the
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
, revealing the identity of the killers. Combined with the film's rushed schedule, the script was rewritten often; pages were sometimes completed on the day of filming. Despite these issues, ''Scream 2'' earned $172.4million at the box office, only $683,362 less than ''Scream'', and received positive reviews from critics, with some arguing that it surpassed the original in quality.
Beltrami received positive critical reception for his score for evolving the musical themes of the characters created in ''Scream'', although some critics claimed that the most memorable pieces from the film were created by composers
Danny Elfman
Daniel Robert Elfman (born May 29, 1953) is an American film composer, singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the singer-songwriter for the new wave band Oingo Boingo in the early 1980s. Since the 1990s, Elfman has garnered internation ...
and
Hans Zimmer
Hans Florian Zimmer (; born 12 September 1957) is a German film score composer and music producer. He has won two Academy Awards, Oscars and four Grammy Awards, Grammys, and has been nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards, Emmys and a Tony Awar ...
. Elfman's contribution had been specially written for the film, but Zimmer's score for ''
Broken Arrow'' was controversially used in the film, replacing Beltrami's own work. The film's soundtrack achieved moderate sales success, reaching number 50 on the
''Billboard'' 200.
Plot
Two Windsor College seniors, Maureen Evans and Phil Stevens, attend a sneak preview of ''Stab'', a
film
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
based on the
events of the Woodsboro massacre. Briefly exiting the theater to use the bathroom, Phil is killed by the masked killer now known as
Ghostface. Ghostface sits beside Maureen in Phil's place and stabs her, leading her to climb up on stage in a cry for help, which the audience mistakes for a publicity stunt until she falls dead.
The news media, including local journalist Debbie Salt, descend on Windsor College where
Sidney Prescott
Sidney Prescott is a fictional character and the protagonist of the ''Scream'' franchise. The character was created by Kevin Williamson and is portrayed by Canadian actress Neve Campbell. She first appeared in '' Scream'' (1996) followed by fou ...
studies alongside her best friend Hallie McDaniel, her new boyfriend Derek Feldman, fellow Woodsboro survivor Randy Meeks and Derek's best friend Mickey Altieri. Two other Woodsboro survivors arrive: police officer Dewey Riley to offer Sidney protection, and reporter
Gale Weathers
Gale Weathers is a fictional character of the Scream (franchise), ''Scream'' film series, created by Kevin Williamson (screenwriter), Kevin Williamson and portrayed by Courteney Cox. The character first appeared in ''Scream (1996 film), Scream'' ( ...
to cover the case. Gale and her new camera man, Joel Jones, unsuccessfully try to stage a confrontation between Sidney and Cotton Weary, who is attempting to gain fame from his exoneration for the rape and murder of Sidney's mother, Maureen Prescott.
That evening, Sidney and Hallie attend a party at a
sorority house
North American fraternity and sorority housing refers largely to the houses or housing areas in which fraternity and sorority members live and work together. In addition to serving as housing, fraternity and sorority housing may also serve to ...
. At another nearby sorority house, Ghostface murders student Cici Cooper. After the partygoers leave, Ghostface enters the house and attacks Sidney. Ghostface injures Derek but flees when the police arrive. Later, after realizing that Cici's real name is Casey, Gale theorizes that the new Ghostface is targeting students with the same names as the Woodsboro murder victims. Randy theorizes that the killer is likely someone Sidney knows and is basing the killings on a movie sequel. Soon after, Ghostface calls Gale, Dewey, and Randy while they are together in daylight on the college campus green. Gale and Dewey tell Randy to keep him on the line while they go around confronting everyone else in the surrounding area who is on a cell phone. Ghostface ambushes Randy, pulling him into Joel's media van, where he is murdered. Joel, scared he will be targeted next, skips town. As night falls on the campus, Dewey and Gale go to a building to review tapes of footage shot by Joel, hoping to spot the killer in the vicinity of the previous crime scenes, but the killer attacks them, stabbing Dewey. Two officers drive Sidney and Hallie to a safe house, but Ghostface intercepts the car and murders them. In the ensuing struggle, Ghostface is knocked unconscious, but recovers and kills Hallie.
Drawn to music playing in the campus theatre, seeking safety, Sidney finds Derek in the auditorium tied to a cross from an earlier fraternity
hazing
Hazing (American English), initiation, beasting (British English), bastardisation (Australian English), ragging (South Asian English) or deposition refers to any activity expected of someone in joining or participating in a group that humiliates, ...
ritual. Ghostface arrives, revealing himself to be Mickey, and shoots Derek, killing him. Mickey intends to kill Sidney and allow himself to be arrested so he can blame violence in movies for the murders at his trial. Local reporter Debbie Salt is then revealed to be his accomplice, whom Sidney recognizes as Mrs. Loomis. Mrs. Loomis betrays Mickey and shoots him, reflexively shooting and injuring Gale before he collapses. Mrs. Loomis reveals that she is seeking revenge against Sidney for killing her son, Billy, but Sidney points out the hypocrisy of her motive, considering that Mrs. Loomis abandoned her own son in the past, which caused him to turn into a serial killer. The pair fight until Cotton intervenes. Mrs. Loomis attempts to manipulate Cotton into murdering Sidney, but he chooses to shoot Mrs. Loomis in exchange for an interview with Sidney and
Diane Sawyer
Lila Diane Sawyer (; born December 22, 1945) is an American television broadcast journalist known for anchoring major programs on two networks including ''ABC World News Tonight'', '' Good Morning America'', ''20/20'', and '' Primetime'' newsmag ...
. Mickey suddenly resurfaces, but he is then promptly and viciously gunned down and killed by Gale and Sidney. Sidney then shoots Mrs. Loomis in the head to ensure she is dead.
When the police arrive, Dewey is revealed to still be alive and Gale climbs into the ambulance with him rather than taking the opportunity to report to the returned Joel, indicating that she cares more for Dewey than for the notoriety she always sought. Sidney instructs the press to direct questions to Cotton, rewarding him with the fame he has been chasing while removing the attention from herself.
Cast
Production
Writing
While writing the script for ''Scream'', Williamson also developed two five-page treatments for potential sequels. Following the release of ''Scream'', Williamson would confirm that he had considered a sequel concept where the character of Sidney Prescott would now be attending college and a
copycat
Copycat refers to a person who copies some aspect of some thing or somebody else.
Copycat may also refer to:
Intellectual property rights
* Copyright infringement, use of another’s ideas or words without permission
* Patent infringement, a v ...
Ghostface killer would start a new series of murders.
Dimension Films
Dimension Films is an American film production company owned by Lantern Entertainment. It was formerly used as Harvey and Bob Weinstein's label within Miramax, which was acquired by The Walt Disney Company on June 30, 1993, to produce and relea ...
agreed to pursue the sequel in March 1997, by which point Williamson already had forty-two pages of the plot developed
which involved four different killers,
Derek
Derek is a masculine given name. It is the English language short form of '' Diederik'', the Low Franconian form of the name Theodoric. Theodoric is an old Germanic name with an original meaning of "people-ruler".
Common variants of the name ar ...
,
Hallie,
Cotton Weary
Wes Craven's ''Scream'' series features a large cast of characters created primarily by Kevin Williamson with contributions from Craven and Ehren Kruger. The series focuses on the character of Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) and a succession ...
, and
Mrs. Loomis, who is the mother of one of the previous film's killers.
By July 1997, filming began on ''Scream 2'' but after Williamson transferred his script to the production it was
leaked onto the
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
in full, revealing the identity of the killers and a large amount of the involved plot.
This resulted in the production continuing to film with only a partial script while Williamson conducted extensive rewrites, changing much of the film's finale, the identities of the film's killers and drastically altering the roles of other characters such as
Randy Meeks and
Joel Joel or Yoel is a name meaning "Yahweh Is God" and may refer to:
* Joel (given name), origin of the name including a list of people with the first name.
* Joel (surname), a surname
* Joel (footballer, born 1904), Joel de Oliveira Monteiro, Brazili ...
.
To avoid another such incident and prevent sensitive plot details being revealed through other means, the actors were not given the last pages of the script until weeks before shooting and the pages that revealed the killer's identity were only provided on the day the scene was shot to the actors involved.
The short production schedule on ''Scream 2'' and his work on other projects meant that Williamson's final script used for the film was detailed in some areas but lacking in others, with Wes Craven forced to write and develop certain scenes as they were being filmed.
The incident was the first in which a film was significantly affected by an Internet leak. In 2017, Williamson claimed the leaked script was a "dummy draft" that was crafted specifically to avoid leaked details.
Williamson claimed there were three dummy endings written.
Development
Williamson had been contracted for two potential sequels to ''Scream'' when selling the script for the original, based on five-page proposals he attached to the script, hoping to entice prospective buyers with the fact that they were not just buying a film but a franchise,
and after a successful
test screening
A test screening is a preview screening of a movie or television show before its general release to gauge audience reaction. Preview audiences are selected from a cross-section of the population and are usually asked to complete a questionnaire or ...
for the original, at which
Miramax
Miramax, LLC, also known as Miramax Films, is an American film and television production and distribution company founded on December 19, 1979, by brothers Harvey and Bob Weinstein, and based in Los Angeles, California.
It was initially a leadi ...
executives were present, Craven was also given a contract to direct the two future films.
Dimension Films considered pursuing development of a sequel in January 1997 after ''Scream'' proceeded to gross more than $50million in the first month of its release, with production being
greenlit
To green-light is to give permission to proceed with a project. The term is a reference to the green traffic signal, indicating "go ahead".
Film industry
In the context of the film and television industries, to green-light something is to ...
in March 1997 and an increased budget of $24million over ''Scream''s $15million.
The production of the film suffered a significant setback when the script was leaked, revealing plot details including the identity of the killers, resulting in the script being modified to change many details.
In an interview, Craven commented on the rushed six-month production schedule, with the film being expected ready for release on December 12, less than a year after the release of ''Scream'', and Williamson forced to rewrite his script, pages for scenes would often only be ready on the day of filming and others lacked significant detail that forced Craven to develop them as the scenes took place.
Various titles were considered for the sequel at different points in the film's production, including ''Scream Again'', ''Scream Louder'' and ''Scream: The Sequel'' before the studio decided to simply use ''Scream 2''.
Casting
Neve Campbell
Neve Adrianne Campbell (born October 3, 1973; ) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her work in the drama and horror genres. She has appeared on ''People'' magazine's list of "50 Most Beautiful People" twice.
Following a series of minor ...
had been contracted to reprise her role as heroine
Sidney Prescott
Sidney Prescott is a fictional character and the protagonist of the ''Scream'' franchise. The character was created by Kevin Williamson and is portrayed by Canadian actress Neve Campbell. She first appeared in '' Scream'' (1996) followed by fou ...
in a potential sequel before filming had even begun on ''Scream'', her character being the only one from the original film guaranteed to survive and lead a new film.
Once production of a sequel was seen as inevitable, following the success of ''Scream'',
Dimension Films
Dimension Films is an American film production company owned by Lantern Entertainment. It was formerly used as Harvey and Bob Weinstein's label within Miramax, which was acquired by The Walt Disney Company on June 30, 1993, to produce and relea ...
added sequel options for the actors whose character had survived the previous film;
Courteney Cox
Courteney Bass Cox (previously Courteney Cox Arquette; born June 15, 1964) is an American actress and filmmaker. She gained international recognition for her starring role as Monica Geller on the NBC sitcom '' Friends'', which aired from 1994 ...
as ambitious
news reporter
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
Gale Weathers
Gale Weathers is a fictional character of the Scream (franchise), ''Scream'' film series, created by Kevin Williamson (screenwriter), Kevin Williamson and portrayed by Courteney Cox. The character first appeared in ''Scream (1996 film), Scream'' ( ...
,
David Arquette
David Arquette (born September 8, 1971) is an American actor and former professional wrestler. He is best known for his role as Dewey Riley in the slasher film franchise ''Scream'', for which he won a Teen Choice Award and two Blockbuster Enter ...
as retired
deputy sheriff
A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...
Dewey Riley
Wes Craven's ''Scream'' series features a large cast of characters created primarily by Kevin Williamson with contributions from Craven and Ehren Kruger. The series focuses on the character of Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) and a succession ...
,
Jamie Kennedy
James Harvey Kennedy (born May 25, 1970) is an American actor and comedian. He has played Randy Meeks in the ''Scream'' franchise (1996–2000) and a multitude of characters in ''The Jamie Kennedy Experiment'' (2002–2004) on The WB. His othe ...
as film-geek
Randy Meeks and
Liev Schreiber
Isaac Liev Schreiber (; born October 4, 1967) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and narrator. He became known during the late 1990s and early 2000s after appearing in several independent films, and later mainstream Hollywoo ...
as
Cotton Weary
Wes Craven's ''Scream'' series features a large cast of characters created primarily by Kevin Williamson with contributions from Craven and Ehren Kruger. The series focuses on the character of Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) and a succession ...
, the man exonerated for the murder of Sidney's mother.
Roger L. Jackson
Roger Labon Jackson is an American voice actor. He is known for voicing Ghostface in the ''Scream'' film series, where E! ranked him as #46 on their list of ''Best Kept Secrets of Hollywood''. He is also known for voicing the character of Moj ...
also returned to voice the character of
Ghostface.
Having finalized the returning principal cast from ''Scream'', the production approached their casting for ''Scream 2'' in a similar manner, seeking established and popular actors, largely sourcing from TV shows of the time. In interviews, the production staff of the film remarked that they found approaching and securing the talent they wanted significantly easier than it had been for ''Scream'', considering the financial and critical success of the film but also believing the prior involvement of
Drew Barrymore
Drew Blythe Barrymore (born February 22, 1975) is an American actress, director, producer, talk show host and author. A member of the Barrymore family of actors, she is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a ...
had lent the horror genre an element of credibility which made serious actors eager to become involved.
New cast included
Sarah Michelle Gellar
Sarah Michelle Prinze ( ; born April 14, 1977) is an American actress. After being spotted at the age of four in New York City, she made her screen acting debut in the television film ''An Invasion of Privacy'' (1983). A leading role on the te ...
as
sorority
Fraternities and sororities are social organizations at colleges and universities in North America.
Generally, membership in a fraternity or sorority is obtained as an undergraduate student, but continues thereafter for life. Some accept gradua ...
sister and film fan
Cici Cooper,
Elise Neal
Elise Demetria Neal (born March 14, 1966) is an American actress. Her big break came with three 1997 films, appearing in ''Rosewood'', '' Money Talks'' and ''Scream 2''.
From 1998 to 2002, Neal starred as Yvonne Hughley in the ABC/UPN sitcom ' ...
as Sidney's friend and roommate
Hallie,
Jerry O'Connell
Jerry O'Connell (born February 17, 1974) is an American actor and television host. He is known for his roles as Quinn Mallory in the television series ''Sliders'', Andrew Clements in ''My Secret Identity'', Vern Tessio in the film '' Stand by M ...
as Sidney's boyfriend
Derek
Derek is a masculine given name. It is the English language short form of '' Diederik'', the Low Franconian form of the name Theodoric. Theodoric is an old Germanic name with an original meaning of "people-ruler".
Common variants of the name ar ...
,
Timothy Olyphant
Timothy David Olyphant ( ; born May 20, 1968) is an American actor. He made his acting debut in an off-Broadway theater in 1995, in ''The Monogamist'', and won the Theatre World Award for his performance, and then originated David Sedaris' ''Th ...
as
Mickey
Mickey is a given name and nickname, almost always masculine and often a short form (hypocorism) of Michael (given name), Michael, and occasionally a surname. Notable people and characters with the name include:
People Given name or nickname Men ...
and
Laurie Metcalf
Laura Elizabeth Metcalf (born June 16, 1955) is an American actress. Often described as a character actor, she's known for her complex and versitile roles across the stage and screen. She has received various accolades throughout her career sp ...
as local reporter
Debbie Salt, later revealed as Mrs. Loomis, mother of
Billy Loomis from ''Scream''. Early in development,
Alicia Silverstone
Alicia Silverstone ( ; born October 4, 1976) is an American actress. She made her film debut in the thriller ''The Crush (1993 film), The Crush'' (1993), earning the 1994 MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance, and gained further prom ...
and
Liv Tyler
Liv Rundgren Tyler (born Liv Rundgren; July 1, 1977) is an American actress, producer, singer and former model. She began a modeling career at age 14. She later decided to focus on acting and made her film debut in ''Silent Fall'' (1994); she ...
were approached to appear in the film's opening sequence, while
Eric Mabius
Eric Harry Timothy Mabius (born April 22, 1971) is an American actor. Born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York, with a degree in cinema studies. After working in theater productions, Ma ...
,
Natasha Gregson Wagner
Natasha Gregson Wagner ( Gregson; born September 29, 1970) is an American actress. She is the daughter of film producer Richard Gregson and actress Natalie Wood. She has appeared in films including '' Lost Highway'' (1997), ''Two Girls and a Guy ...
and
Paula Marshall
Paula Marshall (born June 12, 1964) is an American actress.
Career
In 1990, Marshall had a guest role as Iris West, the love interest of Flash (Barry Allen) in the pilot episode on the short-lived '' Flash''. In 1991, she guest-starred on ''Supe ...
all auditioned for unspecified roles. Many of the actors involved in the production, including Campbell, Cox, Gellar, and O'Connell were starring in their own television series at the time, allowing the production limited availability to schedule their involvement. Gellar in particular was in-between filming of ''
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. It is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film of the same name, also written by W ...
'' and had only recently finished work on another Williamson-penned film, ''
I Know What You Did Last Summer
''I Know What You Did Last Summer'' is a 1997 American slasher film directed by Jim Gillespie, written by Kevin Williamson, and starring Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe and Freddie Prinze Jr. It is loosely base ...
'' (1997). Despite the hectic scheduling, Gellar admitted in an interview that she agreed to perform in ''Scream 2'' without having read the script because of the success of ''Scream''.
Metcalf had only just finished her nine-year run on the popular sitcom ''
Roseanne
''Roseanne'' is an American sitcom television series created by Matt Williams and Roseanne Barr which aired on ABC from October 18, 1988, to May 20, 1997, and briefly revived from March 27, 2018, to May 22, 2018. The show stars Barr as Roseann ...
'' when she began work on ''Scream 2'' and Craven was praising of her ability to portray the deranged Mrs. Loomis.
To obtain the role of Derek, O'Connell and other candidates had to audition by performing a scene from the film where the character sings "
I Think I Love You
"I Think I Love You" is a song by Tony Romeo, written as the debut single for fictional musical TV family the Partridge Family, released in August 1970, a month prior to the debut of the ABC-TV musical sitcom ''The Partridge Family'' starring Sh ...
".
Olyphant's involvement as Mickey was his first leading role in a feature film. Despite scheduling difficulties, Craven took their desire to participate in the film despite their workload as a compliment to the film's quality.
The cast was rounded out by
Lewis Arquette
Lewis Michael Arquette (December 14, 1935 – February 10, 2001) was an American film actor, writer, and producer. Arquette was known for playing J.D. Pickett on the television series ''The Waltons'', on which he worked from 1978 to 1981.
Life ...
, father of David Arquette, as a local Sheriff in charge of investigating the new murders,
Duane Martin
Duane Martin (born August 11, 1965) is an American actor.
Early life and education
Martin was born in Brooklyn, New York, and he graduated from New York University. He played NCAA Division III basketball at NYU and was signed as an undrafted ...
as Gale's
cameraman
A camera operator, or depending on the context cameraman or camerawoman, is a professional operator of a film camera or video camera as part of a film crew. The term "cameraman" does not imply that a male is performing the task.
In filmmakin ...
Joel Joel or Yoel is a name meaning "Yahweh Is God" and may refer to:
* Joel (given name), origin of the name including a list of people with the first name.
* Joel (surname), a surname
* Joel (footballer, born 1904), Joel de Oliveira Monteiro, Brazili ...
,
Jada Pinkett
Jada Koren Pinkett Smith (; née Pinkett; born September 18, 1971) is an American actress and talk show host. She is co-host of the Facebook Watch talk show '' Red Table Talk'', for which she has received a Daytime Emmy Award. ''Time'' named ...
and
Omar Epps
Omar Hashim Epps (born July 20, 1973) is an American actor, rapper, and producer. He has been awarded nine NAACP Image Awards, two Teen Choice Awards, one MTV Movie Award, one Black Reel Award, and one Screen Actors Guild Award. Epps's film r ...
as
Maureen Evans and Phil Stevens, patrons of the fictional "Stab" film who become the film's opening victims, and
Portia de Rossi
Portia Lee James DeGeneres (born Amanda Lee Rogers; 31 January 1973), known professionally as Portia de Rossi, is an Australian-American former actress. She played Nelle Porter on the American drama series '' Ally McBeal'' (1998–2002), for wh ...
and
Rebecca Gayheart
Rebecca Gayheart (born August 12, 1971) is an American actress and model. She began her career as a teen model in the 1980s and subsequently appeared in a student short film by Brett Ratner, with whom she had an extensive relationship.
In the ea ...
as sorority sisters Murphy and Lois. Gayheart had auditioned for the role of
Tatum Riley in ''Scream'' and auditioned multiple times for ''Scream 2'' for the roles of Cici Cooper, Hallie and Maureen Evans before obtaining her eventual role.
Minor roles were filled by Chris Doyle and Philip Pavel as Officer Richards and Officer Andrews, assigned to protect Sidney, veteran actor
David Warner David or Dave Warner may refer to:
Sports
* Dave Warner (strongman) (born 1969), Northern Ireland strongman competitor
* David Bruce Warner (born 1970), South African alpine skier
* David Warner (cricketer) (born 1986), Australian cricketer
Oth ...
as Sidney's drama teacher,
Joshua Jackson
Joshua Carter Jackson (born June 11, 1978) is a Canadian-American actor. He is known for his starring role as Charlie Conway in '' Mighty Ducks'', as Pacey Witter in The WB teen drama series ''Dawson's Creek'' (1998–2003), Peter Bishop in the ...
as an unnamed film student, and
Nancy O'Dell
Nancy O'Dell (born Nancy Evelyn Humphries; 1966) is an American television host and entertainment journalist. She served as co-anchor of the syndicated entertainment news show ''Entertainment Tonight'' from January 3, 2011, to August 2, 2019.
E ...
as an unnamed reporter who would reprise the role in future installments of the series.
Tori Spelling
Victoria Davey Spelling (born May 16, 1973) is an American actress and author. Her first major role was Donna Martin on ''Beverly Hills, 90210'', beginning in 1990. She has appeared in made for television films, including '' A Friend to Die F ...
,
Luke Wilson and
Heather Graham
Heather Joan Graham (born January 29, 1970) is an American actress. After appearing in television commercials, her first starring role in a feature film came with the teen comedy '' License to Drive'' (1988), followed by the critically acclaime ...
played themselves as characters in the "Stab" films; credited as Stab Sidney, Stab Billy and Stab
Casey respectively. Spelling was cast based on a sarcastic remark by Campbell's character in ''Scream'' that she would be played by Spelling in a movie based on her life. Craven remarked that she was a "good sport" about the joke and happy to take part.
Filming
Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...
for ''Scream 2'' took place over a nine-week period beginning in mid-June 1997 and on a budget of $24million.
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
and
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
were used to represent the state of
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
, where the fictional Windsor College is situated in ''Scream 2'', with filming taking place largely in Los Angeles and over four weeks in Atlanta. The opening scene featuring the premiere of the fictional "Stab" film was filmed over three days in the Vista theater on Sunset Drive, Hollywood, the exterior represented by the Rialto theater in
South Pasadena, California
South Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 25,619, up from 24,292 at the 2000 census. It is located in the West San Gabriel Valley. It ...
.
Due to the large number of extras present in the scene, full details of what occurred were leaked onto the Internet shortly after filming completed which Craven cited as the production's first experience of a major plot leak.
The
sorority
Fraternities and sororities are social organizations at colleges and universities in North America.
Generally, membership in a fraternity or sorority is obtained as an undergraduate student, but continues thereafter for life. Some accept gradua ...
homes used by the character
Cici Cooper and a nearby party were also filmed in Pasadena, east of Los Angeles.
The fictional ''Stab'' film was filmed in
Malibu, California
Malibu ( ; es, Malibú; Chumash: ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, situated about west of Downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate and its strip of the Malibu ...
.
Agnes Scott College
Agnes Scott College is a private women's liberal arts college in Decatur, Georgia. The college enrolls approximately 1,000 undergraduate and graduate students. The college is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church and is considered one of the ...
, just outside Atlanta,
and
UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
in Los Angeles were used to represent the fictional Windsor College which appears in the film.
Following a script leak early into filming, security around the production was significantly increased, with a focus on closed
filmsets and strict restrictions on what personnel could be present during filming and have access to the script, with all present required to sign
non-disclosure agreements
A non-disclosure agreement (NDA) is a legal contract or part of a contract between at least two parties that outlines confidential material, knowledge, or information that the parties wish to share with one another for certain purposes, but wish ...
. The script itself was reprinted on specialty paper to prevent
photocopying
A photocopier (also called copier or copy machine, and formerly Xerox machine, the generic trademark) is a machine that makes copies of documents and other visual images onto paper or plastic film quickly and cheaply. Most modern photocopiers u ...
and was often destroyed after use.
Post-production
Craven had difficulties passing ''Scream'' through the film-rating body
MPAA
The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distribu ...
to receive an R-rating to help the film remain commercially viable,
sending eight different cuts and requiring the direct intervention of Dimension Films founder
Bob Weinstein
Robert Weinstein (born October 18, 1954) is an American film producer. He is the founder and head of Dimension Films, former co-chairman of Miramax Films and The Weinstein Company, all of which he co-founded with his older brother, Harvey. He ...
to eventually get the necessary rating to release the film without significant cuts.
Eager to avoid the same experience on ''Scream 2'', Craven attempted to manipulate the MPAA by sending them a version of the film that had been edited to focus on and enhance the gore and violence present beyond what they actually wanted in the film, including reusing a clip of
Omar Epps
Omar Hashim Epps (born July 20, 1973) is an American actor, rapper, and producer. He has been awarded nine NAACP Image Awards, two Teen Choice Awards, one MTV Movie Award, one Black Reel Award, and one Screen Actors Guild Award. Epps's film r ...
'
character Phil Stevens being stabbed in the ear three times, instead of only once as seen in the final film, and an extended scene of
Randy Meeks' death that showed his throat being slashed. Craven's reasoning was that the parts of the film they wished to keep would be more acceptable when viewed with the enhanced violence and so the MPAA would force them to remove the footage they already did not want to keep while passing the content they did want. However, the MPAA granted ''Scream 2'' an R-rating for the more violent cut as they believed the underlying message of the film was significant enough to warrant the violence.
Music
Marco Beltrami returned to helm the
score for ''Scream 2'', though there would be a late inclusion by
Danny Elfman
Daniel Robert Elfman (born May 29, 1953) is an American film composer, singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the singer-songwriter for the new wave band Oingo Boingo in the early 1980s. Since the 1990s, Elfman has garnered internation ...
in the form of the choral track "Cassandra Aria" which plays during a scene where Campbell's character performs in a
play
Play most commonly refers to:
* Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment
* Play (theatre), a work of drama
Play may refer also to:
Computers and technology
* Google Play, a digital content service
* Play Framework, a Java framework
* Pla ...
and again in the film's finale as "Cassandra Aria Reprise". Excerpts from the score of the 1996 film ''
Broken Arrow'' by
Hans Zimmer
Hans Florian Zimmer (; born 12 September 1957) is a German film score composer and music producer. He has won two Academy Awards, Oscars and four Grammy Awards, Grammys, and has been nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards, Emmys and a Tony Awar ...
appeared in the film, in particular guitar work by
Duane Eddy
Duane Eddy (born April 26, 1938) is an American rock and roll guitarist. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he had a string of hit records produced by Lee Hazlewood, which were noted for their characteristically "twangy" sound, including "Rebel- ...
, for the character Dewey, replacing the tracks that had been developed for the character from the original ''Scream'' score. Beltrami would explain in an interview that the Zimmer piece was used as a
placeholder
Placeholder may refer to:
Language
* Placeholder name, a term or terms referring to something or somebody whose name is not known or, in that particular context, is not significant or relevant.
* Filler text, text generated to fill space or provi ...
for Beltrami's incomplete score during a
test screening
A test screening is a preview screening of a movie or television show before its general release to gauge audience reaction. Preview audiences are selected from a cross-section of the population and are usually asked to complete a questionnaire or ...
. The test audience reaction to it influenced the studio to keep the Zimmer piece, reducing "Dewey's Theme", which Beltrami had composed to fill its place, to minor use during more serious scenes involving the character.
In 1998
Varèse Sarabande
Varèse Sarabande is an American record label, owned by Concord Music Group and distributed by Universal Music Group, which specializes in film scores and original cast recordings. It aims to reissue rare or unavailable albums, as well as newer r ...
released a 30-minute album with music from ''Scream'' and ''Scream 2'', and in 2016 ''Scream 2: The Deluxe Edition'' was released including the Elfman material and the complete Beltrami score.
Trivia
Matthew Lillard
Matthew Lyn Lillard (born January 24, 1970) is an American actor. His early film work includes Chip Sutphin in ''Serial Mom'' (1994), Emmanuel "Cereal Killer" Goldstein in ''Hackers'' (1995), Stu Macher in ''Scream'' (1996), Stevo in ''SLC Punk ...
has an uncredited
cameo appearance
A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly eit ...
at a sorority party, after previously portraying
Stu Macher in ''
Scream
Scream may refer to:
*Screaming, a loud vocalization
Amusement rides
* Scream (Heide Park), a gyro drop tower in Soltau, Germany
* Scream! (ride), a tower ride at Six Flags Fiesta Texas and Six Flags New England
* Scream! (roller coaster), at ...
'' (1996). He revealed in a 2009 interview that Stu was originally intended to be revealed as the killer in ''
Scream 3
''Scream 3'' is a 2000 American slasher film directed by Wes Craven and written by Ehren Kruger. It stars Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Courteney Cox, Parker Posey, Patrick Dempsey, Scott Foley, Lance Henriksen, Matt Keeslar, Jenny McCarthy ...
'', having survived his apparent death in ''Scream'' (1996),
retroactively making his ''Scream 2'' character also Stu; however, this plot was abandoned and the script was rewritten without Stu.
An
alternate ending
An alternate ending (or alternative ending) is an ending of a story that was considered, or even written or produced, but ultimately discarded in favour of another resolution. Generally, alternative endings are considered to have no bearing on t ...
was planned to reveal a third Ghostface killer to be watching Sidney from her university roof, but the idea was scrapped.
The movie was mentioned in an episode of ''
The Office
''The Office'' is a mockumentary sitcom created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, first made in the United Kingdom, then Germany, and subsequently the United States. It has since been remade in ten other countries.
The original series of ...
'' ("
Frame Toby"), with the character
Michael Scott saying how much he loved it and drawing parallels to his life and Sidney Prescott's.
Release
''Scream 2'' held its
premiere
A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition.
A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its first ...
on December 10, 1997, at
Graumans Chinese Theater in
Hollywood followed by a general release on December 12, 1997, less than a year after the release of ''Scream''. After the unexpected success of ''Scream'', by late 1997, ''Scream 2'' was considered such a potential box office success that the
James Bond
The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...
film ''
Tomorrow Never Dies
''Tomorrow Never Dies'' is a 1997 spy film, the eighteenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions and the second to star Pierce Brosnan as fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Directed by Roger Spottiswoode from a screenplay ...
'' and
James Cameron
James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker. A major figure in the post-New Hollywood era, he is considered one of the industry's most innovative filmmakers, regularly pushing the boundaries of cinematic capability w ...
's future hit ''
Titanic
RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United ...
'' were moved from their release date of December 12 to 19 so as to not face the film as competition.
Box office
''Scream 2'' opened in 2,663 theaters and took $32.9million on its opening weekend in box-office receipts, a $27million increase over ''Scream'', and went on to gross $101.1million in the U.S. and a worldwide lifetime gross of $172.4million.
Its debut set the December opening weekend record until December 2000, being replaced by ''
What Women Want
''What Women Want'' is a 2000 American romantic fantasy comedy film written by Josh Goldsmith, Cathy Yuspa, and Diane Drake, directed by Nancy Meyers, and starring Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt.
The film earned mixed reviews from critics but wa ...
'' (2000).
It also achieved the highest December weekend gross for two weeks until it was overtaken by ''
Titanic
RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United ...
''. ''Scream 2'' enjoyed financial success on par with ''Scream'' despite its rapid production time and issues with script rewrites, nearly matching the first film's total gross of $173million.
''Scream 2'' is currently the third highest-grossing film in the
slasher genre, again behind ''Scream''.
''Scream 2'' was the 21st highest-grossing film of 1997 despite competition from
blockbuster
Blockbuster or Block Buster may refer to:
*Blockbuster (entertainment) a term coined for an extremely successful movie, from which most other uses are derived.
Corporations
* Blockbuster (retailer), a defunct video and game rental chain
** Bl ...
films such as ''Titanic'' and ''
Men in Black
In popular culture and UFO conspiracy theories, men in black (MIB) are purported men dressed in black suits who claim to be quasi- government agents, who harass, threaten, or sometimes even assassinate unidentified flying object (UFO) witnesse ...
''.
Critical reception
On
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film holds an approval rating of 82% based on 83 reviews, with an average score of 6.90/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "As with the first film, ''Scream 2'' is a gleeful takedown of scary movie conventions that manages to poke fun at terrible horror sequels without falling victim to the same fate."
On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the film received a score of 63 based on 22 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
On
CinemaScore
CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data.
Background
Ed Mintz founded Ci ...
, audiences gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.
Both
Gene Siskel
Eugene Kal Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) was an American film critic and journalist for the ''Chicago Tribune''. Along with colleague Roger Ebert, he hosted a series of movie review programs on television from 1975 until his d ...
and the ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' Janet Maslin gave the sequel positive reviews despite their negative response to ''Scream''; Maslin remarked that "''Scream 2'' almost works as straight satire. It's so sharp—pardon the expression—that no pretty young things absolutely had to die."
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
stated the film was "about as good as the original" but lamented that "
'Scream 2''is gorier than the original, and that distracts from the witty screenplay."
''
Time Out London
''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 328 cities in 58 countries worldwide.
In 2012, the London edition becam ...
'' was mixed in its response, calling the film superior to most other horror films but poor in comparison to ''Scream'',
while ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'', scathing of ''Scream'' before its release, positively received the sequel, saying "
haractersponder whether any sequel ever topped the original. ''Scream 2'' is certainly worthy of being part of that debate."
''
Empire
An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
s Kim Newman echoed this sentiment saying "Some great comic—and terrifying—moments, but suffers for not being as original as the original" remarking that though the film had the same elements that made ''Scream'' a success, they were no longer surprising for having been in ''Scream''.
There was however criticism over the death of the character
Randy Meeks played by Kennedy. John Muir, author of ''Wes Craven: The Art of Horror'' called the character's death the "most devastating moment of the sequel" and a "bad call" but praised the development of the other surviving characters from ''Scream'', calling Cox, Arquette and Campbell's characters "beloved".
In contrast, Muir criticized all of the new characters in ''Scream 2'', believing they never attained the same depth of the ''Scream'' cast because of ''Scream 2''s focus on increasing the
body count
A body count is the total number of people killed in a particular event. In combat, a body count is often based on the number of confirmed kills, but occasionally only an estimate. Often used in reference to military combat, the term can also r ...
and violence over the original, saying that the film's killer could literally be anyone as the audience is never provided with enough information about the new characters to form an opinion about them.
Ebert also commented upon this, saying "there is no way to guess who's doing the killing, and everyone who seems suspicious is (almost) sure to be innocent".
Accolades
''Scream 2'' won few awards compared to its predecessor with Campbell again receiving the most nominations and wins, having won two awards on ''Scream''. She received a
Saturn Award for Best Actress
The Saturn Award for Best Actress is one of the annual Saturn Awards given by the American professional organization, the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films. The Saturn Awards are the oldest film-specialized reward of achievements ...
nomination and went on to win a
Best Female Performance.
Despite having only a brief cameo appearance as "Sidney Prescott" in the
film within a film
A story within a story, also referred to as an embedded narrative, is a literary device in which a character within a story becomes the narrator of a second story (within the first one). Multiple layers of stories within stories are sometimes c ...
"Stab" shown in ''Scream 2'',
Tori Spelling
Victoria Davey Spelling (born May 16, 1973) is an American actress and author. Her first major role was Donna Martin on ''Beverly Hills, 90210'', beginning in 1990. She has appeared in made for television films, including '' A Friend to Die F ...
became one of the nominees for a 1997
Razzie Award for Worst New Star.
The film also received Saturn Award nominations for
Best Supporting Actress for Courteney Cox and
Best Horror Film for ''Scream 2'' itself.
Home media
''Scream 2'' was released in US territories on
VHS on December 1, 1998
by
Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Buena ( ) is a borough in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 4,603,[Alliance Atlantis
Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. (commonly known as Alliance Atlantis and commonly shortened to simply Alliance or Atlantis and formerly traded as TSX:AAC) was a Canadian media company that operated primarily as a specialty service operato ...]
). ''Scream 2'' was released on
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
for the first time in the US on July 22, 1998
with a Collector's Edition following on September 26, 2000, in "The Ultimate Scream Collection" and a separate release on August 7, 2001. The Collector's Edition featured additional material including outtakes, deleted scenes, the film's theatrical trailer, music videos of songs featured in the film and director's commentary. Both releases were undertaken by Buena Vista Home Entertainment. Following the release of then series finale ''Scream 3'', the three films were collected in "The Ultimate Scream Collection" by
Dimension Films
Dimension Films is an American film production company owned by Lantern Entertainment. It was formerly used as Harvey and Bob Weinstein's label within Miramax, which was acquired by The Walt Disney Company on June 30, 1993, to produce and relea ...
on September 26, 2000, in a
boxset
A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit.
Music
Artists and bands ...
containing "Behind the Scream", a short
documentary about the production of the three films and additional material including
screentest
A screen test is a method of determining the suitability of an actor or actress for performing on film or in a particular role. The performer is generally given a scene, or selected lines and actions, and instructed to perform in front of a cam ...
s of actors involved in the films, outtakes and deleted scenes.
''Scream 2'' remained unreleased in foreign territories including Europe and Japan until February 26, 2001, when it was released simultaneously with ''Scream'' and ''Scream 3'' by Buena Vista Home Entertainment. Each film contained the additional content found in the Collector's Edition version of the U.S. release, including deleted scenes, outtakes, theatrical trailers, music videos and commentary from each respective film's crew.
Additionally, the three films were collected together in a single pack as the "Scream Trilogy".
''Scream 2'' was released individually and in a collection with ''Scream'' and ''Scream 3'' on
Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...
on March 29, 2011, two weeks prior to the theatrical release of ''Scream 4'', by
Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered in ...
. In addition to the films, each release contained audio commentary, theatrical trailers and behind-the-scenes footage.
The film was released on 4K
Ultra HD Blu-ray
Ultra HD Blu-ray (4K Ultra HD, UHD-BD, or 4K Blu-ray) is a digital optical disc data storage format that is an enhanced variant of Blu-ray. Ultra HD Blu-ray discs are incompatible with existing standard Blu-ray players, though a traditional Bl ...
on October 4, 2022, by
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
.
Soundtrack
The ''Scream 2'' original soundtrack was released November 18, 1997, by
Capitol Records
Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...
, a division of
EMI
EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...
. The soundtrack consists of 15 songs by various artists from the
R&B,
Rap
Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...
and
Rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
genres, all but two of which - "One More Chance" and "The Race" - appear in the film. The album spent ten weeks on the
''Billboard'' 200, rising as high as #50,
performing significantly better than the ''Scream'' original soundtrack which never charted.
Music guide AllMusic however scored the album lower than its predecessor. AllMusic's Stephen Erlewine was highly critical of the album, believing the content was an attempt to compensate for the previous film's lack of a hit soundtrack, but the attempt had failed, creating an "uneven" album of songs not "good enough to make
he artists'own albums", awarding it only 2 stars out of 5.
Only one song featured in the film did not appear on the album, the original work, "Take Away the Fear", written and performed by Craven's own daughter Jessica Craven and Mike Mancini, which plays on a TV during an early scene in a sorority house involving
Sarah Michelle Gellar
Sarah Michelle Prinze ( ; born April 14, 1977) is an American actress. After being spotted at the age of four in New York City, she made her screen acting debut in the television film ''An Invasion of Privacy'' (1983). A leading role on the te ...
. On February 4, 1998 ''Scream 2: Music from the Dimension Motion Picture'' was certified
gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
by the
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
, signifying that the album achieved sales in excess of 500,000 units.
Score
The ''Scream 2'' original score was, as in ''Scream'', developed by Marco Beltrami and was released on July 14, 1998, by
Varèse Sarabande
Varèse Sarabande is an American record label, owned by Concord Music Group and distributed by Universal Music Group, which specializes in film scores and original cast recordings. It aims to reissue rare or unavailable albums, as well as newer r ...
on a CD which also contained tracks from the score of ''Scream'' entitled "Scream/Scream 2".
The commercially released score for both films was found to be lacking many pieces heard in either film, consisting of only nine tracks – "Stage Fright Requiem", "Love Turns Sour", "Cici Creepies", "Deputy for a Friend", "Hollow Parting", "Dewpoint/Stabbed", "Hairtrigger Lunatic", "Sundown Search" and "It's Over, Sid" – with a runtime of only 17 minutes, compared to nearly 90 minutes of score developed for the film and the more common 30–45 minutes of music found in other original scores.
The release was also found to be missing the track "Cassandra Aria" by
Danny Elfman
Daniel Robert Elfman (born May 29, 1953) is an American film composer, singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the singer-songwriter for the new wave band Oingo Boingo in the early 1980s. Since the 1990s, Elfman has garnered internation ...
, described by soundtrack-review site
Filmtracks
Filmtracks.com is a modern film score review website created and maintained by its sole reviewer, Christian Clemmensen. Since the launch of Filmtracks in 1996, the website has reviewed nearly two-thousand soundtracks dating as far back as 1954, t ...
as "a frenzied, choral-enhanced three minutes".
The length of the released score was considered disappointing with some reviews considering the track omissions the result of the high fees required to be paid to composers in order to release their music commercially.
The influence of several other famous composers could be heard in the score including
Hans Zimmer
Hans Florian Zimmer (; born 12 September 1957) is a German film score composer and music producer. He has won two Academy Awards, Oscars and four Grammy Awards, Grammys, and has been nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards, Emmys and a Tony Awar ...
,
Elliot Goldenthal
Elliot Goldenthal (born May 2, 1954) is an American composer of contemporary classical music and film and theatrical scores. A student of Aaron Copland and John Corigliano, he is best known for his distinctive style and ability to blend various ...
,
Ennio Morricone
Ennio Morricone (; 10 November 19286 July 2020) was an Italian composer, orchestrator, conductor, and trumpeter who wrote music in a wide range of styles. With more than 400 scores for cinema and television, as well as more than 100 classica ...
and
Christopher Young
Christopher Young (born April 28, 1957) is an American composer and orchestrator of film and television scores.
Many of his compositions are for horror and thriller films, including ''Hellraiser'', ''Species'', ''Urban Legend'', ''The Grudge'', ...
. In particular excerpts of the Hans Zimmer's score to ''
Broken Arrow'', particularly the tracks "Brothers" and "Secure", featuring guitar work by
Duane Eddy
Duane Eddy (born April 26, 1938) is an American rock and roll guitarist. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he had a string of hit records produced by Lee Hazlewood, which were noted for their characteristically "twangy" sound, including "Rebel- ...
, would become a component of the theme tune of the character Dewey Riley. Filmtracks was complimentary to the score, appreciating Beltrami's evolution of his work in ''Scream'' but remarked that the most memorable music of the film would be from other composers, Elfman's contribution "Cassandra Aria" and the samples from Zimmer's score, finding the replacement of Beltrami's work for the Dewey character with Zimmer's work "effective". Ultimately, the album was called unsatisfying without Elfman's piece but better than the score for the first movie and it was awarded 3 stars out of 5.
The music guide AllMusic was more complimentary of Beltrami's contribution, saying the score "perfectly captured the post-modern, hip scare-ride of the Scream movies", and awarded it 3 stars out of 5.
See also
*
List of films featuring fictional films
A body of films feature fictional films as part of their narrative. These are also called films within films.
List of films
See also
*Story within a story
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
*
*
*{{cite news , last=Rapold , firs ...
References
External links
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{{Authority control
1997 films
1997 horror films
1997 independent films
1997 thriller films
1990s English-language films
1990s horror thriller films
1990s mystery films
1990s serial killer films
1990s slasher films
1990s teen horror films
American films about revenge
American independent films
American mystery films
American sequel films
American slasher films
American horror thriller films
Dimension Films films
Films about fraternities and sororities
Films about fratricide and sororicide
Films directed by Wes Craven
Films produced by Cathy Konrad
Films scored by Marco Beltrami
Films set in a movie theatre
Films set in Ohio
Films set in universities and colleges
Films shot in Atlanta
Films shot in Los Angeles
Films shot in Pasadena, California
Films with screenplays by Kevin Williamson
Self-reflexive films
2
1990s American films