Screammovie | 1996 May 2026
: Its massive success, grossing $173 million worldwide, launched a franchise that continues to this day with a upcoming sequel, Scream 7 .
The 1996 film Scream , directed by Wes Craven and written by Kevin Williamson, is credited with revitalizing the dying slasher genre by blending traditional horror with a self-aware, meta-fictional approach. The movie focuses on Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), a high school student in the fictional town of Woodsboro who becomes the target of a masked killer known as Ghostface. ScreamMovie | 1996
: The film subverted expectations by revealing there were two killers—Billy Loomis (Sidney’s boyfriend) and Stu Macher—rather than just one. : Its massive success, grossing $173 million worldwide,
: The iconic first sequence featuring Drew Barrymore was a major shock to audiences because it killed off the movie’s biggest star in the first eight minutes. : The film subverted expectations by revealing there
: Unlike previous slashers, the characters in Scream are fans of horror movies and explicitly discuss the "rules" of the genre, such as the survival of the "virgin" and the danger of saying "I'll be right back".
Watch Gale Weathers' final news report from the original 1996 Woodsboro murders:
