Trivia / Scream 4

• Acting in the Dark: At a table read, the actors were told to stop reading the script at page 75, so that those already cast would not know the film's climax.
• Actor-Shared Background: Emma Roberts's character Jill not only shares her last name but also has a famous relative (Emma's aunt Julia, Jill's cousin Sidney).
• Box Office Bomb: Domestically, it only made $38 million on a $40 million budget. Worldwide, it came close to $100 million, but it was still enough to temporarily halt plans for future films.
• California Doubling: The first film was shot in California, which is presumably where Woodsboro is. However, this one was shot in Michigan.
• Career Resurrection: For Emma Roberts, leading to her casting in American Horror Story and Scream Queens (2015).
• Creator Backlash: Kevin Williamson had some, due to constant clashes with producers. Ehren Kruger, who had written the script for the third film, was brought on to do some rewrites behind his back.
• The Danza:
  • Zigzagged with Jill Roberts, who is played by Emma Roberts. "Roberts" had been established to be Maureen Prescott's maiden name in Scream 3, but the fact that she had a sister who happens to be a single mother (therefore, passing her maiden name to her daughter) is only revealed in this film.
  • Anthony Perkins is played by Anthony Anderson.
• Dawson Casting: The film revolves around a new group of high schoolers, but Emma Roberts was the only one still in her teens at the time of filming (she was 18).
  • Rory Culkin and Britt Robertson were 20.
  • Hayden Panettiere, Aimee Teagarden and Marielle Jaffe were 21.
  • Nico Tortorella and Erik Knudsen were 23.
  • There are also some in-universe examples with Lucy Hale, Shenae Grimes, Anna Paquin and Kristen Bell in the Stab movies (although, admittedly, it's not said if their characters are teens in the movies).
• Deleted Scene:
  • There was an alternative opening in regards to Jenny and Marnie. After Jenny gets Marnie with the prank call, Marnie plays dead and gets Jenny back. These Deadly Pranks all lead up to Ghostface getting the unexpected jump on both of them with Marnie initially believing Ghostface was just another one of Jenny's pranks. Another scene shows Dewey, Judy, Hoss, and Perkins investigating the crime scene, where Jenny's corpse is left displayed in a chair while Marnie's body is strung up on the ceiling fan, both in send-ups to the positioning of the bodies in the original film's Cold Open.
  • Gale and Dewey have a discussion about Sidney's book tour stop at Woodsboro with Gale expressing some envy for Sidney's success. Both of them talk about the passing of Sidney's father Neil Prescott, and Dewey notes that this is the first time Sidney has returned to Woodsboro since her father's death.
  • An extended scene had the proper display of Principal Himbry's memorial statue. The final scene in the movie still shows it in a Blink-and-You-Miss-It moment.
  • There was a fountain scene that paralleled the one from the original movie with the main characters discussing Ghostface's phone calls and murders. In said conversation, Charlie claims Sidney can't die because of Plot Armor, but Kirby counters that Sidney's character was absent in the fourth Stab movie and beyond, making her a viable target for death. Furthermore, Robbie correctly guesses Jill as the killer; likewise, Trevor rightfully suspects Charlie.
  • In the aftermath of Olivia's death, Kate admits that she took a sleeping pill and slept through the entire thing, emphasizing her as a potential suspect since it was done offscreen.
  • There was a scene where Dewey found out that Olivia got a pet door stuck around her neck (an element that didn't make the final cut), making him distraught since it's a deliberate reference to how Tatum, his sister, was killed.
  • There was a shorter version of Rebecca's death. Interestingly, said scene implicitly shows two Ghostfaces since one of them shakes Rebecca's car while the other one sets off the alarm of another car far away and pops up to kill her.
  • One cut sequence had Trevor trying (and failing) to reconcile with Jill at the hospital. Trevor reveals that he lost his phone, which ends up making Jill more doubtful of his trustworthiness since the phone that called her belonged to Trevor.
  • Another sequence showed Trevor and Jill looking for Jill's missing phone.
  • The film ends with Gale screaming for help for the injured Sidney and Dewey as a mob of reporters flocks to interview the now-dead Jill, whose lifeless face is shown one last time before the credits roll. Originally, there was one more scene after this to make the ending more uplifting, where Gale and a bandaged-up Dewey would meet Hicks and Sidney some time later at the hospital, with Gale being nice to Hicks and proposing to write a book with Sid.
• DVD Commentary: At one point during the commentary track with Emma Roberts, Hayden Panettiere (who has to leave two-thirds of the way through mirroring her role in the film itself), Neve Campbell (via phone from London, and another one who doesn't stay to the end — she only takes part for half an hour from around the 15-minute mark) and director Wes Craven, Hayden realises her shirt's on the wrong way around and promptly takes it off to put it on properly, much to Ms. Roberts' amusement and Mr. Craven's bemusement bordering on blushing.
• Executive Meddling: The film apparently underwent a lot of this from the Weinsteins before its release, including most of the script changes. The DVD Commentary alludes to this on several occasions, particularly on noting that the movie was originally due to end with a "We got a heartbeat!" scene involving Kirby.
• The Foreign Subtitle: Titled Scream 4: Next Generation in Japan, possibly in reference to the long Sequel Gap.
• Franchise Killer: The disappointing box office returns of the film, which came out a decade after its predecessor, ended up pausing the film series for yet another decade, as the Weinsteins weren't interested to fund a fifth film and instead moved the franchise to television. Then Wes Craven died in 2015, nixing any plans he had in mind for a followup. It's not until The Weinstein Company collapsed in 2018, and rights transferred to a company that was interested in producing a sequel, that a fifth film was finally made. Guess you can't keep a good franchise down for long.
• Hostility on the Set:
  • The film was made while Courteney Cox and David Arquette were going through a very bad patch in their marriage. They split up shortly after the film was finished, ironically having fallen in love on the set of the first.
  • Hayden Panettiere allegedly protested the script changes, in particular feeling that her character had been dumbed down.
• No Export for You: You want to hear more of Wes Craven, Hayden Panettiere, and/or Emma Roberts? Luckily, they're on the DVD Commentary track (as is Neve Campbell, who phones in her contribution)... what's that? You live in the UK? And it's not included on the Region 2 release there, either on the DVD or Blu-Ray? Well, if you don't have a multiregion player... or if you can't be bothered to import the French R2 release (which does have the commentary — and an English language track)...
• The Other Marty:
  • Lauren Graham was cast as Jill's mother Kate, and appeared on The Jay Leno Show to promote the film. She was later dropped due to script changes and replaced by Mary McDonnell.
  • Lake Bell was cast as Judy Hicks but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts, with Marley Shelton taking over the role.
• Playing Against Type: Hayden Panettiere, at the time known for being heroic Woobies (this being before her turn as an Alpha Bitch on Nashville), playing The Lad-ette Deadpan Snarker Kirby.
• Reality Subtext: The main Ghostface's motive is that she wants to be famous to avoid being overshadowed by her relative Sidney. Said Ghostface Jill is played by Emma Roberts, whose father is Eric Roberts and whose aunt is Oscar-winning actress Julia Roberts. Similarly, the other Ghostface Charlie is played by Rory Culkin, who has two popular brothers: Macaulay Culkin and Kieran Culkin.
• Release Date Change: Originally planned for an October 2010 release date, but after writing delays it was pushed back to April 15, 2011.
• Role Reprise: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette return as Sidney, Gale and Dewey respectively 11 years after the third movie.
• Scully Box: Emma Roberts (who is 5'2") had to wear seven-inch-high boots in order to avoid her being towered over by the rest of the cast. Given that she plays the killer, her not looking like she could be bowled over by any of her co-stars was paramount.
• Sequel Gap: The film came 11 years after its predecessor (which, incidentally, is longer than the time it took to make and release all three previous films), and thus takes shots at everything that happened in the horror genre in-between.
• Spared by the Cut: Inverted with Kirby. Wes Craven claimed that she was still moving after her death, but she appears to die in the finished film. However, a Freeze-Frame Bonus in the fifth movie reveals that Kirby did survive after all, and she later officially returned in the sixth movie.
• Stillborn Franchise: This was intended to start another trilogy of Scream films. However, low box office numbers and Wes Craven's death in 2015 put a stop to those plans — that is, until the 2022 sequel, when a new crew took over for Craven and Williamson but with the original cast still intact. Even Judy Hicks returned.
• Those Two Actors: This marks the third film Emma Roberts has made with Rory Culkin (after Lymelife and Twelve). And the second film where they become a couple - this is also the case in Lymelife, although her character doesn't kill his there. It also marks the second film with Hayden Panettiere and Mary McDonnell (both were in the Made-for-TV Movie Chestnut Hill).
• Throw It In!: According to YouTube comments, Gale’s “circle jerk” line in the Cinema Club scene was suggested to Courteney Cox by one of the student extras.
• Troubled Production: The film was stuck in Development Hell for a long time, and Williamson had repeated clashes with the Weinsteins, resulting in them once again hiring Kruger and Craven for rewrites, and the script varied heavily from the original drafts. He allegedly left the film as a result, a rumor that Neve Campbell and Wes Craven would neither confirm nor deny. Also, Cathy Konrad (who produced the first three films) sued the Weinsteins over not approaching her for the film. Filming went relatively smoothly, though it ran on a couple weeks longer than planned, and there was tension on set between David Arquette and Courteney Cox, whose real-life relationship was falling apart (and subsequently ended in divorce). The film was released to mixed reception and disappointing box office returns, putting Williamson's plans for a new trilogy on hold and leading to the franchise being rebooted by a new crew in 2022, though the original cast returns and with Williamson on board as executive producer.
• Unbuilt Casting Type: At the time, Emma Roberts was an out-of-the-ordinary choice to play a serial killer, given that she was best known at the time for the Nickelodeon Kid Com Unfabulous and for assorted family films and teen comedies. Nowadays, though, she's best known for her Alpha Bitch roles on American Horror Story and Scream Queens (2015), meaning that newer audiences are more likely to expect her to be the killer. The film marks something of a turning point in Roberts' career, in fact, as she began taking on these Alpha Bitch roles immediately after this one, to the point where they are now her type. By now, her family-friendly Teen Idol career is all but forgotten. Joe Reid, writing for Polygon, referred to The Reveal as "the precise moment in time when Nancy Drew Emma Roberts evolved into American Horror Story Emma Roberts."
• What Could Have Been:
  • The roles of Chloe and Rachel (Kristen Bell and Anna Paquin's cameos) were written with Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan in mind.
  • Patrick Dempsey was supposed to reprise his role as Kincaid, but Dempsey's obligations for Transformers: Dark of the Moon ended with the character of Kincaid cut from the script.
  • Wes Craven was going to have a cameo, and on his Twitter account asked fans what they thought it should be. It ended up cut from the film; he played a coroner.
  • Kristen Stewart was offered a role early on as the opening prologue kill. As a fan of the series, she turned it down, thinking she'd never be able to top the Drew Barrymore sequence from the first film.
  • Selena Gomez and Ashley Greene were considered for the role of Jill before Emma Roberts was cast.
  • Aubrey Plaza auditioned to play Jill. In her words, she said that she didn't get the part because she went full method in the audition, playing Jill as such an obvious murderer that The Reveal of her as the villain would've been a Captain Obvious Reveal.
  • Jenna Coleman auditioned for the role of Olivia Morris.
  • An early script idea had Dewey and Gale now having a baby. This was dropped, as bringing a baby into the film would have made shooting "impossible."
  • Hilary Duff was attached for a while in an unspecified role.
  • The original opening would have taken place at a party for Sidney's book. The killer would jump out and badly stab her. The rest of the film would take place three years later. Producers vetoed this, feeling the Time Skip hurt the flow of the film.
  • The ending of the movie had several different iterations
    • Kevin Williamson's original, still unleaked draft would have ended with Jill awaking in the hospital and being greeted by her mother Kate (who survived in this draft). Shortly before Jill was going to meet with the press, Kate would have informed Jill that Sidney had survived her injuries and was going to make it, and the movie would have ended with Jill preparing for her interview, knowing her plan failed.
    • A leaked draft showed that, at one point, it was going to be more of a Cliffhanger, leaving Sidney's fate open. The final scene would have Jill being loaded into the ambulance, convinced she's won...only to hear a "we got a heartbeat" from inside. It would presumably set Jill up as an antagonist for another film.
  • Both the above endings would have segued into what Kevin Williamson confirmed were his original plans for a "new" trilogy: Jill would have gone to college in part 5 and Sidney would have been a professor at the same school who would have been suffering from amnesia after the injuries sustained. A new killer would emerge, blackmailing Jill for her involvement as a killer in the previous film and threatening to expose her, while Jill would have to kill to keep her secret. Williamson stated that Part 6 would still have Sid, but would focus more on Gale and explore her relationship with Dewey.
  • On the DVD Commentary, Wes Craven confirmed he had Sidney shoot Jill through the chest instead of going for a headshot just in case he wanted Jill to come back in the sequel.
  • Lucy Hale was apparently Wes Craven's choice for Rebecca, but she was too busy filming Pretty Little Liars to commit to the part, so she instead just plays a character in one of the Stab films in the opening scene.
• Word of God:
  • A post from Wes Craven claimed that Kirby didn't die; on the commentary track for the movie, Craven even points out that she is still moving after getting stabbed. The 2022 sequel confirms that she survived.
  • In an old interview, Craven verified that Jill had very few kills in costume, suggesting that Charlie did most of the kills as Ghostface.

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