Why There Will Reportedly Be Multiple Versions Of Scream 5
Good slasher franchises — much like their villains — never stay dead for long, and Scream is a bloody good example. Even though it has laid in wait for a decade, audiences still fondly remember the franchise, its scares, and its iconic scenes. It was only a matter of time until either a reboot or new sequel was penned, and as luck would have it, audiences will receive the latter in Scream 5. While Wes Craven is not attached to this particular outing, several of the slasher series' alum will return, such as David Arquette (Deputy Dewey Riley). But more importantly, the upcoming movie will channel the original's spirit not only on screen but in development.
The original Scream is known far and wide for its plot twist. Much like that movie kept audiences on edge guessing the identity of the Ghostface Killer, Scream 5's production will keep audiences guessing up until its release. According to Bloody Disgusting, there are reportedly multiple versions of both the filmed product and the screenplay. The question that immediately comes to mind is: Why? Isn't one version enough? Yes, but just as the original Scream reflected and took advantage of the then-current slasher landscape, Scream 5 will reflect and take advantage of the modern age's addiction to information and spoilers.
Scream 5 wants to neutralize leaks
Modern moviegoing audiences now live in the age of "spoiler culture." While movie spoilers are nothing new, they're more common than ever because the current incarnation of the internet is rife with leakers and insiders who reveal plot twists and events before audiences can experience them as intended. But, how can you spoil a movie's secrets when the developers are running a counter-intelligence game?
According to the Bloody Disgusting article, the purpose of the multiple Scream 5 movies and screenplays is, as the outlet puts it, obfuscation. Anyone who wants to spoil the movie will risk leaking a fake version. As Bloody Disgusting points out, this idea is not unprecedented, not even within the Scream series. Scream 2's draft was infamously leaked online, necessitating last-minute rewrites. If someone spoils Scream 5's ending, all the filmmakers have to do is swap it out with another one, and audiences will be none the wiser.
However, who is to say this story of necessary obfuscation isn't one itself? Perhaps Scream 5's filmmakers are actually planning to go one step further and ship different cuts of the film to different theaters so when audiences discuss the movie online, nobody can agree what happened because everyone saw different versions. That's what happened with the 1985 movie adaptation of the board game Clue, so who's to say it won't happen again? We will have to wait until January 2022 when Scream 5 releases in theaters to find out.