Corona | Coming Attractions

At long last, here's our first opportunity to see if Scream 4 can live up to the franchise legacy. And you know what? It does look promising.

Dimension Films has released the trailer for Scream 4, offering you your first taste of the new generation's Ghostface in action. You tell us: does it look worthy of the Scream reputation and name?

It's kind of appropriate that the first published photo of the new Ghostface on the set of Scream 4 comes from director Wes Craven and his Twitter stream.

Zap2It broke word that screenwriter Ehren Kruger has been brought in to perform rewrites on the Scream 4 script even as the movie is in production. Kruger wrote the screenplay for Scream 3, which most fans of the series consider the weakest in the series. He's also written the scripts for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and The Skeleton Key.

Sources tell the website that the script changes taking place are unsettling the cast and crew. One example given is Hayden Panettiere's character which, according to the mole, "used to be really sharp" and is now "dumbed down significantly." It's also said that Scream creator Kevin Williamson is no longer involved with the production.

Zap2It's story sparked Scream 4 director Wes Craven to comment via Twitter: "I have not been given control of the script." Read into that what you will.

There won't be the mom from Gilmore Girls in Scream 4. Turns out that Lauren Graham has had to drop out of the movie due to "date conflict and script changes."

But with Graham's exodus from the production, three new warm bodies have been found. Showing up to the set this week are Adam Brody, Marley Shelton and Erik Knudsen. Brody is playing a police detective who was inspired to join the force after growing up watching C.S.I.; Shelton takes over the role that Lake Bell had originally been slated to play, a girl that knew Sidney back in high school; and Knudsen is going to be playing a horror-obsessed wisecracker similar to Jamie Kennedy's character from the first Scream trilogy.

An interesting addendum in The Hollywood Reporter's casting coverage is the mention that Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson are using all the tricks that they can muster to keep the movie's ending and the identity of the new Ghostface killer a secret. This includes not sending the Scream 4 screenplay to casting agencies as well as asking the actors to not read past page 75 in order to keep the reveal of the movie's ending as little known as possible.

Via her Twitter feed, actress Lake Bell has informed the world that she has dropped out of filming Scream 4 due to scheduling conflicts.

Since we last updated things nearly a month ago a bunch of actors have landed parts in Scream 4 including Emma Roberts, Hayden Panettiere, Rory Culkin, Lake Bell and Nico Tortorella. Former Law & Order cast member Anthony Anderson also has a role along with and Marielle Jaffe from Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. Finally, EW mentions that Gilmore Girls cast member Lauren Graham has just about signed a deal too. Filming begins in Ann Arbor, Michigan at the end of the month.

Shockya found a new teaser poster for Scream 4 which looks somewhat like the ones we remember from Scream 1 - 3. When Hollywood knows that something works, the rule is to keep using it.

From Entertainment Weekly comes the first look at the teaser poster for Scream 4 and a short interview with its director, Wes Craven. 13 questions get asked to Craven by EW, among them this one:

EW: Did you have any trepidation about revisiting the series so many years down the road?

Craven: No, I’m fascinated by what this movie is. I can’t think of another film that has not only a true trilogy, where you’re following a single central character over three pictures, but has the complexity to the story and other characters that also have continued along. And then 10 years later, to come back to those same characters and same actors, and continue that story in a way that’s totally organic. It’s kind of unprecedented.

Read the full interview.

FEARNet asked Scream 4 screenwriter Kevin Williamson if there was any truth to rumors that any other characters besides Sidney, Gale and Dewey would be back in the new sequel. Indirectly the site was asking, "Hey, so is Jamie Kennedy going to be in this one or what?" And what did Williamson have to say?

"No. We're not that movie. We're not that universe where you can bring people back from the dead. That would be just a cheat. It's such a disservice. Everyone's like, 'When's Randy coming back?' I'm like, 'You know what? I would love nothing more than to have Jamie Kennedy in the film. However to have Randy in the film, it sort of just takes it… I mean Scream 2 was a lie, you know? It's a false move. So I just won't do it. I can't do that. I just won't do it.'"

Is Jamie Kennedy's Randy character coming back from the dead in Scream 4? That's the rumor du jour on CHUD today where "sources close to the franchise" inform the website that discussions with Kennedy are happening right now. If these talks produce a signed contract, how does Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven plan on resurrecting Kennedy's character -- or will he be playing a different character than Randy (who was killed off by Ghostface in Scream 2)?

Scream 4 has been greenlit and given a release date of April 15, 2011. Neve Campbell, David Arquette and Courteney Cox Arquette are all confirmed to return along with director Wes Craven. Story details were not given.

"Scream has been such an integral part of Dimension's history, and I look forward to continuing the franchise," said Bob Weinstein of Dimension Films.

Courtney Cox spoke with Associated Press about Scream 4 but, if you were hoping for a small new piece of info about the sequel's story, prepare yourself for disappointment. "There are really only a few of us that survived," Cox told the site and then the reporter asked if there was any truth to a report that her character and her husband's would meet their demise at the start of the film. "They're probably back living in Woodsboro," she answered, refering to where she thinks Gale and Dewey are at the start of the film. "I think that he's probably still deputy, and I've had a lot of kids. I don't know. I'm probably miserable, and then I'm sure a lot of murdering will happen."

Eh. We told you that it wasn't much.

Bob Weinstein told Variety that Scream scream queen Neve Campbell has just signed on to star in Scream 4. The plan is to begin filming around April or May of next year.

Using his Twitter account to microblog, Scream 4 writer Kevin Williamson has said these things about the project over the past week:

• "It is a sequel. Scream 4. The first chapter of a new trilogy."
• "Doing the S4 thing today. Moving forward with all my characters regardless...it's the story I wanna tell."
• "Working on S4. Have completely spooked myself. Think there's a killer in every closet. Never sleep now. Ugh."