‘Scream VI’ Directors Discuss Stu’s Fate, Bringing Kirby Back, and Tara’s Hero Moment [Interview]

Warning: This article contains plot details and spoilers.

Radio Silence’s Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (Scream, Ready or Not) continue the Scream saga in Scream VI, now in theaters, expanding upon the mythology and relocating the characters to New York City this time around.

Bloody Disgusting spoke with the filmmakers in a spoiler-filled chat about their approach to this sequel. During our chat, Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett discussed the Scream 2 parallels, addressed whether Stu really is dead, talked about bringing Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere) back into the fold, and revealed the hero moment Jenna Ortega requested for her character.

“I think we always felt like this was going to be a spiritual sequel to the original sequel in a lot of ways,” Gillett says of Scream VI. “We loved the symmetry of that. We obviously knew the theater was going to be something that was featured but also used in a bit of a different way. One of our favorite props in that shrine room is the big gold star that Derek [played by Jerry O’Connell in Scream 2] is hung on. There was something so wild about being in that theater space and seeing that used in a similar but different context. Of course, I think the idea to set it on Halloween was for us to spiritually tie to the idea of the opening of Scream 2, where there are all these masked people; and the paranoia of not knowing who the killer might be.

“Definitely love that. All of that stuff was nodding very intentionally.”

As you might have noticed, Kirby Reed briefly appeared in Scream 2022 in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment. The filmmakers detail that Kirby almost had a full cameo in the previous film, and they were surprised by her character evolution in Scream VI.

Bettinelli-Olpin explains, “We had a conversation with her for [Scream] five to be in five, but it was too much of a cameo thing. We all just agreed to do that Easter egg. Then with this one, none of us, Hayden included, knew what that new Kirby would be until we read the script. When we all read it for the first time, we just went, ‘Oh, I never saw that coming. But that makes so much sense, and I love that.’ I love the way that she’s a survivor, and it shows that in such a great way.”

Hayden Panettiere (“Kirby Reed”) stars in Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media Group’s “Scream VI.”

Bettinelli-Olpin adds, “Also, I think it allows Kirby to evolve in a way where we all love the Kirby from Scream 4, but if it had just been, ‘Hey, let’s go hang out with Kirby from Scream 4 again,’ that would’ve ultimately been unsatisfying. Hayden, one of her big tasks for this movie, and she knocked it out of the park, was how do you still have that Kirby stuff but make it feel matured, like it’s been through something and that it’s grown?”

Kirby’s triumphant return might’ve satisfied her fans, but what about Stu, Matthew Lillard’s affable killer from the original? One popular theory ahead of Scream VI’s release speculated the return of Stu as Ghostface. The film addresses this in the third act when the characters comment on the busted TV set that (probably) killed him in the original movie. 

When asked about this moment, Gillett explains that Stu’s ultimate fate came directly from screenwriters James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick.

He tells us, “That was actually in the script. It was scripted as ‘a brutal and definitive kill.’ Literally in the script itself. It’s something that internally with us and Guy and Jamie; we all love Lillard, and we all love Stu. We brought back this hallucination of Billy, and there’s always been this fun of who could you bring back or should you bring back? Do we have the responsibility to bring back one of the other OGs? And it’s always been just a fun inside joke for us. It was one of our favorite moments in the script; reading that they’ve put a punctuation mark on the outcome of the TV.” Then again, anything is always possible… 

Ghostface might’ve been more ruthless this round, but so were protagonists Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera) and Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega). Bettinelli-Olpin sings their praises and reveals that one of the film’s most triumphant moments came from Ortega herself.

Jenna Ortega (“Tara Carpenter”), left, and Melissa Barrera (“Sam Carpenter” star in Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media Group’s “Scream VI.”

Bettinelli-Olpin reveals, “I think that the Jenna/Melissa emotional scenes and the Jenna/Melissa fight scenes are among our favorites. Those two things play in tandem where you see this heartfelt side of both of them, but when push comes to shove, they kick ass. I think you could feel it when you’re watching the fight scenes. You could feel that these people have been through something and are not the kind of fighters they were in the first one. They are now ready to do this. Not superhero style, but ‘we’re not going to get pushed around.’ That comes through, and it’s contagious. It’s what we want as an audience, to have that catharsis. When Jenna kicks Ghostface, that was something we just threw in on the day. Because it felt like, why isn’t she getting involved in the fight? Jenna had the note, and we said, ‘Yeah, let’s get you in there.'”

Ortega’s ad-libbing also provided one of Gillett’s favorite moments of the film.

He explains, “The other thing on that day was that after Melissa stabs Bailey [Dermot Mulroney] in the eye and falls back, there’s that long two-shot of them both just standing there. It’s almost like Sam has this almost orgasmic release after that stabbing, and Jenna’s standing there and [she says] ‘Nice.’ That was ad-libbed into that shot, which is one of our favorite moments. At one point, we had cut that shot down, and then we were like, ‘No, we’ve got to just be in that sister moment as long as possible.’

“But I think you feel the catharsis at the movie’s end because of what Matt said. The interplay of those quiet moments coupled with the big standup and cheer action moments.”

The post ‘Scream VI’ Directors Discuss Stu’s Fate, Bringing Kirby Back, and Tara’s Hero Moment [Interview] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

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