Trying to adapt a much loved horror franchise into a television series is no easy task. It's all the more difficult when that series is unable to use the killer's iconic mask in its television adaption, with producers instead forced to create their own take on an iconic mask. Yet, those were minor obstacles for MTV's Scream. The horror anthology series' biggest obstacle has actually been getting its long-gesturing third season on air after setback after setback.
Filming began in 2017, with the cast sharing behind the scenes snaps on social media throughout production. Even though filming finished up later that same year, nothing has come of it yet. MTV remains quiet regarding the status of Scream Season 3, and the future of the series remains unclear as the network begins to rebrand itself. With that in mind, CBR is taking a look at what we do know about season three and why it has essentially been shelved -- for now.
THE STORY BEHIND SCREAM THE SERIES
MTV launched the Scream television series in 2015. After two years in development, the show was finally ordered to series in 2014 with a 10 episode first season of Scream which would feature a new set of characters completely separate from those that appeared in the films. Much like the film franchise, the television series Scream follows a group of teenagers being targeted by a masked serial killer.
The project was developed under the Dimension TV umbrella, with Harvey and Bob Weinstein serving as executive producers along with Wes Craven, Tony DiSanto, Liz Gateley, Marianne Maddalena and Cathy Konrad. It ran for two seasons on MTV, with the second season finishing its run on October 18, 2016. A third season was announced later that month, however, it was said that it would go on to serve as a reboot on the series with Queen Latifah joining as a producer in April 2017.
SCREAM SEASON 3's NEW CAST
Whenever Season 3 of Scream does appear, don't expect to see any of the cast from the first two seasons return. The third season, instead, will feature an entirely new cast with a brand new story, essentially serving as a reboot of the series.
Joining the cast this season are Tyler Posey (Teen Wolf), Giorgia Whigham (The Punisher), Giullian Yao Gioiello (Iron Fist), and Keke Palmer (Scream Queens), while Power Rangers star RJ Cyler has been cast in the lead as a character named Deion. Also joining the cast are the rapper Tyga, Christopher Jordan Wallace and Jessica Sul.
SCREAM'S BEHIND-THE-SCENES SHAKE-UPS
Even though Scream's next season has reportedly finished filming, there's a complex set of reasons that it hasn't premiered yet. Following Lantern Entertainment's purchase of The Weinstein Co. assets back in July, there have been numerous legal matters that have needed to be addressed, and deals are still being made in response to various objections over Lantern's assumption of contracts. One of those projects that requires deal-making is Scream.
As part of its original deal between TWC and Netflix has been deemed terminated as of July 2018, per The Hollywood Reporter, this meant that the streaming giant was not under obligation to stream any content it hadn't been delivered by July 11th of that year -- this included Scream's third season. This is because there was a "key man" provision made by Netflix which ensured it had no obligation to pay for new episodes.
It's unclear what has happened since then, and whether or not legal matters have been settled, but given that Mary J. Blige joined the series late last year, it would imply something is finally occurring behind the scenes. She had joined the series as the mother of the show's lead character, Deion, played by RJ Cyler.
At the time of Blige's casting, it was said a new showrunner had also joined the series -- Brett Matthews (The Vampire Diaries). With that in mind, It's more than likely the series will be reworked, but it remains to be seen whether or not MTV will still be its home given the network's desire to rebrand itself and re-evaluate its current line-up of shows.
WHAT IS SCREAM SEASON 3'S PREMIERE DATE AND WHERE TO WATCH?
Even though one version of it completed filming back in 2017, the third season of MTV's Scream still does not have a premiere date. It was originally meant to air as three-night, six-episode event in late 2018, but that never ended up happening.
Some rumors have suggested that the show could end up debuting in the United States on one of MTV's sister networks like VH-1, BET or the Paramount Network. While the third season of Scream is complete, it's not clear if it will air anywhere anytime soon. However, those interested in checking out the first two seasons, fans can currently check those out on Netflix.