Scream writer Kevin Williamson revealed the real-life origin of the Ghostface mask and how it became an integral part of the slasher franchise.
"No one could agree on a mask," said William in a promo commemorating the film's 25th anniversary and release on 4K Ultra HD, "and I remember we were in a location scout, and we found the Ghostface was in a box of stuff in a garage that we were location scouting. And we asked the owner if we could take it, because [director] Wes [Craven] immediately looked at it and said 'This is like the famous [The] Scream painting [by Edvard Munch].'"
"And so we took that to our production, and we said, 'Can you riff on this and make something like this?' So they must've done twenty different designs, and every one of them was rejected by the studio," he added. "And finally, we were like, 'Why don't we just get the rights to this mask?' Because in the script, it did say [the killer's mask] was a dime-store Halloween mask. And so, that's exactly what we found."
Thanks to Scream's critical and box office success, the Ghostface mask is now universally associated with the film and became the facial covering of choice for the killers in the subsequent three sequels directed by Craven. The mask will resurface yet again in Scream (2022), the first movie in the series produced since Craven's death in 2015. Original Scream stars Neve Campbell (Sidney Prescott), Courteney Cox (Gale Weathers), and David Arquette (Dewey Riley) are all back for the fifth installment, with Williamson serving as an executive producer.
"I don't think anybody wanted to see the number five after something," said Williamson in a recent interview, explaining why the latest sequel isn't simply titled Scream 5. "You'd have to ask them -- Paramount or whoever, but I think taking the 5 off and calling it Scream [works] because it’s brand new," explained Williamson. Cox expressed a similar sentiment earlier this year, in which she described Scream (2022) as "not a reboot, it's not a remake, it's just a brand new launch."
Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (Ready or Not) are directing the new Scream from a script provided by James Vanderbilt (Zodiac, White House Down) and Guy Busick (Ready or Not, Castle Rock). It opens in theaters Jan. 14, 2022.
Source: YouTube