Scream 3
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Scream 3'' is a 2000 American
slasher film A slasher film is a genre of horror films involving a killer stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools like knife, chainsaw, scalpel, etc. Although the term "slasher" may occasionally be used informally as ...
directed by
Wes Craven Wesley Earl Craven (August 2, 1939 – August 30, 2015) was an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and editor. Craven has commonly been recognized as one of the greatest masters of the horror genre due to the cultural imp ...
and written by Ehren Kruger. It stars Neve Campbell,
David Arquette David Arquette (born September 8, 1971) is an American actor and former professional wrestler. He is best known for his role as Dewey Riley in the slasher film franchise ''Scream'', for which he won a Teen Choice Award and two Blockbuster En ...
,
Courteney Cox Courteney Bass Cox (previously Courteney Cox Arquette; born June 15, 1964) is an American actress and filmmaker. She gained international recognition for her starring role as Monica Geller on the NBC sitcom ''Friends'', which aired from 1994 ...
, Parker Posey, Patrick Dempsey,
Scott Foley Scott Kellerman Foley (born July 15, 1972) is an American actor and director. Foley is known for roles in television shows such as '' The Unit'', '' Scrubs'', '' Felicity'', and '' Scandal'', and in films such as '' Scream 3''. He has a ...
,
Lance Henriksen Lance Henriksen (born May 5, 1940) is an American actor. He is known for his works in various science fiction, action and horror films, such as that of Bishop in the ''Alien'' film franchise, and Frank Black in Fox television series ''Millenn ...
,
Matt Keeslar Matthew Keeslar (born October 15, 1972) is an American retired actor and practicing PA-C (certified physician assistant). He is an instructor of urology at the Oregon Health & Science University's School of Medicine. Life and career Matthew K ...
,
Jenny McCarthy Jennifer McCarthy Wahlberg (' Jennifer Ann McCarthy; born November 1, 1972) is an American actress, model, and television personality. She began her career in 1993 as a nude model for ''Playboy'' magazine and was later named their Playmate of ...
,
Emily Mortimer Emily Kathleen Anne Mortimer (born 6 October 1971) is a British-American actress. She began acting in stage productions and has since appeared in several film and television roles. In 2003, she won an Independent Spirit Award for her performanc ...
,
Deon Richmond Deon Richmond (born April 2, 1978) is an American actor from New York City who is best known for his recurring roles as Rudy Huxtable's friend Kenny (nicknamed "Bud") on the NBC sitcom ''The Cosby Show'' and Jordan Bennett on the ABC/The WB sit ...
, and
Patrick Warburton Patrick Warburton (born November 14, 1964) is an American actor. On television, he has played David Puddy on '' Seinfeld'', the title character on ''The Tick'', Jeb Denton on ''Less Than Perfect'', Jeff Bingham on '' Rules of Engagement'' and L ...
. Released as the third installment in the ''Scream'' franchise, it was originally the concluding chapter of the series until the franchise was revived in 2011 with a sequel, '' Scream 4.'' The film takes place three years after the previous film and follows Sidney Prescott (Campbell), who has gone into self-imposed isolation following the events of the previous two films but is drawn to
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...
after a new Ghostface begins killing the cast of the
film within a film A story within a story, also referred to as an embedded narrative, is a literary device in which a character within a story becomes the narrator of a second story (within the first one). Multiple layers of stories within stories are sometimes c ...
''Stab 3''. ''Scream 3'' combines the violence of the slasher genre with comedy and "
whodunit A ''whodunit'' or ''whodunnit'' (a colloquial elision of "Who asdone it?") is a complex plot-driven variety of detective fiction in which the puzzle regarding who committed the crime is the main focus. The reader or viewer is provided with the c ...
" mystery, while satirizing the
cliché A cliché ( or ) is an element of an artistic work, saying, or idea that has become overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, even to the point of being weird or irritating, especially when at some earlier time it was consi ...
of film trilogies. Unlike the previous ''Scream'' films, there was an increased emphasis on comedic elements in this installment; the violence and horror were reduced in response to increased public scrutiny about violence in media, following the
Columbine High School massacre On April 20, 1999, a school shooting and attempted bombing occurred at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado, United States. The perpetrators, 12th grade students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, murdered 12 students and one teacher. ...
. ''Scream'' screenwriter Kevin Williamson provided a five-page outline for two sequels to ''Scream'' when auctioning his original script, hoping to entice bidders with the potential of buying a franchise. Williamson's commitments to other projects meant he was unable to develop a complete script for ''Scream 3'', so writing duties were undertaken by Kruger, who discarded many of Williamson's notes. Craven and
Marco Beltrami Marco Beltrami (born October 7, 1966) is an American composer and conductor of film and television scores. He has worked in a number of genres, including horror ('' Scream'', '' Mimic, The Faculty, Resident Evil, The Woman in Black, A Quiet P ...
returned to direct and score the film, respectively. Production was troubled with script rewrites, occasions when pages were only ready on the day of filming, and scheduling difficulties with the main cast. Principal photography took place from July to September 1999, and the ending was re-filmed in January 2000. ''Scream 3'' premiered on February 3, 2000, in
Westwood, Los Angeles Westwood is a commercial and residential neighborhood in the northern central portion of the Westside region of Los Angeles, California. It is the home of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Bordering the campus on the south ...
, and was theatrically released the following day, grossing $162million worldwide on a budget of $40million. The film received mixed reviews, and is often cited as the weakest installment of the original trilogy series.


Plot

Cotton Weary, now the host of a successful talk show, is contacted by Ghostface on his car phone. The voice demands to know the whereabouts of Sidney Prescott. When Cotton refuses to cooperate, Ghostface breaks into his home and attacks his girlfriend
Christine Christine may refer to: People * Christine (name), a female given name Film * ''Christine'' (1958 film), based on Schnitzler's play ''Liebelei'' * ''Christine'' (1983 film), based on King's novel of the same name * ''Christine'' (1987 fil ...
. Cotton rushes home only for Christine to think he was behind the attack. As he tries to reason with her, Ghostface kills Christine, then Cotton, telling him he should have revealed Sidney's location. Detective Mark Kincaid contacts Gale Weathers to discuss the recent murders, prompting her to travel to
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...
, where she finds Dewey Riley working as an adviser on the set of ''Stab 3'', the third film in the series based on the Ghostface murders. Ghostface kills ''Stab 3'' actress
Sarah Darling Sarah Ann Darling (born October 4, 1982) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She has worked and toured in Nashville, Los Angeles, and the UK. Her last full album release, Wonderland, reached #1 on the official UK Country Charts. ...
, causing production of ''Stab 3'' to be halted. The remaining ''Stab 3'' cast, along with Dewey and Gale, gather at the home of Jennifer Jolie. Ghostface murders her bodyguard and uses a gas leak to cause an explosion, which kills fellow actor Tom Prinze. Sidney is living in seclusion as a crisis counselor for an abused women's
hotline A hotline is a point-to-point communications link in which a call is automatically directed to the preselected destination without any additional action by the user when the end instrument goes off-hook. An example would be a phone that auto ...
, fearing that another killer may strike. Having discovered Sidney's location, the killer begins taunting her by phone using a
voice changer The term voice changer (also known as voice enhancer) refers to a device which can change the tone or pitch of or add distortion to the user's voice, or a combination and vary greatly in price and sophistication. A kazoo/didgeridoo can be used as ...
to sound like her deceased mother Maureen Prescott, forcing her out of hiding and drawing her to Hollywood. Martha Meeks, the sister of Sidney's friend
Randy Randy is a given name, popular in the United States and Canada. It is primarily a masculine name. It was originally derived from the names Randall, Randolf, Randolph, as well as Bertrand and Andrew, and may be a short form (hypocorism) of the ...
who was murdered while Sidney was in college, visits Sidney and the others to deliver a videotape that Randy made before his death, posthumously warning them that the rules of a horror film do not apply to anyone in the third and final film of a horror trilogy and that any of them, including "main character" Sidney, could die. Sidney is later attacked by Ghostface at a movie set, forcing the police to keep Sidney safe at their station. Dewey, Gale, Jennifer, and the remaining ''Stab 3'' cast, Angelina and
Tyson Tyson is a male given name of old French origin meaning 'high-spirited', 'fire'. It is from this that a surname arose 'son of Tyson'. Surname *Alan Tyson (1926–2000), British musicologist *Barbara Tyson (born 1964), Canadian actress *Bill Tyso ...
, attend a birthday party for ''Stab 3''s director, Roman Bridger. After Gale discovers Roman's body in the basement, Ghostface attacks the group, seemingly murdering Angelina when she wanders off alone, and successfully kills Tyson and Jennifer. The killer then orders Sidney to the mansion to save Gale and Dewey, who are being held hostage. When Sidney arrives, Ghostface lures her inside where Gale and Dewey are bound and gagged. As Sidney is freeing them, Ghostface appears, though Sidney gains the upper hand using a hidden gun to fight him off. Kincaid shows up but is knocked unconscious by Ghostface. Sidney flees and hides in a secret screening room where she is discovered by Ghostface, who reveals himself as Roman, having survived being shot by wearing a bulletproof vest. Roman admits to being Sidney's half-brother, born to their mother Maureen when she was an actress in Hollywood. Four years prior, he had tried reuniting with her, only for her to reject him due to him being the product of rape. Bitter over the rejection, Roman began stalking her, filming all the men she philandered with and showing Billy Loomis the footage of Billy's father with Maureen, which motivated Billy and Stu Macher to kill her, thus setting off the string of murders in Sidney's hometown and at her college. When he discovered how much fame Sidney had attracted due to those events, Roman snapped and lured Sidney out of hiding, planning to kill her and frame her for the murders. After Roman kills ''Stab'' producer John Milton, who he implies is his biological father and one of their mother's rapists, Sidney furiously denounces him and his motives, provoking an enraged Roman to engage Sidney in a vicious fight, which ends when Roman shoots Sidney in the chest, but Sidney survives the shot and stabs Roman multiple times, revealing to him that she, too, was wearing a bulletproof vest. As Dewey and Gale arrive, a screaming Roman suddenly resurfaces with a knife; Sidney yells at Dewey to shoot Roman in the head, which Dewey does, finally killing him. Sometime after at Sidney's house, Dewey proposes to Gale, who accepts. Sidney returns from a walk and leaves her gates, which were previously shown to be alarmed, open. She enters her home and is invited to join Dewey, Gale, and Kincaid to watch a movie. As she goes to join the others, her front door blows open behind her, but she walks away, leaving it as it is.


Cast


Production


Development

''Scream 3'' was released just over two years after ''
Scream 2 ''Scream 2'' is a 1997 American slasher film directed by Wes Craven and written by Kevin Williamson. It stars Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Courteney Cox, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jamie Kennedy, Laurie Metcalf, Jerry O'Connell, Elise Neal, ...
'', greenlit with a budget of $40million, a significant increase over the budgets of ''Scream'' at $15million and ''Scream 2'' at $24million. Williamson's involvement had been contracted while selling his ''Scream'' script, to which he had attached two five-page outlines for potential sequels, which would become ''Scream 2'' and ''Scream 3'', hoping to entice buyers with the prospect of purchasing a franchise rather than a single script. Craven too had been contracted for two potential sequels following a successful
test screening A test screening is a preview screening of a movie or television show before its general release to gauge audience reaction. Preview audiences are selected from a cross-section of the population and are usually asked to complete a questionnaire or ...
of ''Scream'' and he returned to direct the third installment. Shortly before production began on the film,
Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold Eric David Harris (April 9, 1981 – April 20, 1999) and Dylan Bennet Klebold (; September 11, 1981 – April 20, 1999) were an American mass murder duo who perpetrated the Columbine High School massacre on April 20, 1999. Harris and Klebol ...
killed 12 students, a teacher, and themselves at their school, in what became known as the
Columbine High School massacre On April 20, 1999, a school shooting and attempted bombing occurred at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado, United States. The perpetrators, 12th grade students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, murdered 12 students and one teacher. ...
. In the aftermath of the incident, many parties began looking for reasoning behind their actions and there came an increased scrutiny on the role of the media in society, including
video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedba ...
s and film, and the influence it could have on an audience. With production of ''Scream 3'' not yet underway, there were considerations about whether the film should be made at that time, aware of the potential for negative attention but the studio decided to press forward, albeit with changes. The studio remained however much more apprehensive concerning violence and gore in ''Scream 3'' than with previous installments, pressing for a greater emphasis on the series' satiric humor while scaling back on the violence. At one point in the production, the studio went as far as demanding that the film feature no blood or on-screen violence at all, a drastic departure for the series, but Craven directly intervened. According to Kruger, " raven ...said 'Be serious, guys. Either we make a ''Scream'' movie or we make a movie and call it something else. But if it's a ''Scream'' movie, it's going to have certain standards.'"


Writing

Bob and
Harvey Weinstein Harvey Weinstein (; born March 19, 1952) is an American former film producer and convicted sex offender. He and his brother, Bob Weinstein, co-founded the entertainment company Miramax, which produced several successful independent films includ ...
approached Williamson in early 1999 to pursue a full script for a third installment to the ''Scream'' franchise, ''Scream 3''. However, following his successes with the ''Scream'' series and other projects such as ''
I Know What You Did Last Summer ''I Know What You Did Last Summer'' is a 1997 American slasher film directed by Jim Gillespie, written by Kevin Williamson, and starring Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe and Freddie Prinze Jr. It is loosely base ...
'', Williamson had become involved in multiple projects including the development of the short-lived TV series ''
Wasteland Wasteland or waste land may refer to: * Desert or barren area * an uncultivated area of land, whether wooded or not, whether common land or not Art, entertainment, and media Comics * ''Wasteland'' (DC Comics), 1987–1989 anthology-style horror/ ...
'' and directing his self-penned film '' Teaching Mrs. Tingle'' (1999) which Williamson had written prior to ''Scream'' and which had languished in
development hell Development hell, development purgatory, and development limbo are Media industry, media and Software industry, software industry jargon for a project, concept, or idea that remains in development for an especially long time, often moving between d ...
since.' Unable to develop a full script for the production, Williamson instead wrote a 20–30 page draft outline for the film that involved the return of Ghostface to the fictional town of Woodsboro where the "Stab" series, a fictional series of films within a film that exist within the ''Scream'' universe and are based on the events of ''Scream'', would be filmed. The Weinsteins hired '' Arlington Road'' scribe Ehren Kruger to replace Williamson and helm writing duties, developing a script based on Williamson's notes. The environment for ''Scream 3''s development had become more complicated than with previous films. There was an increased scrutiny on the effects of violence in media and the effect it could have on the public in the aftermath of the
Columbine High School massacre On April 20, 1999, a school shooting and attempted bombing occurred at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado, United States. The perpetrators, 12th grade students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, murdered 12 students and one teacher. ...
which occurred shortly before production would begin on the film. In addition, since the release of the original ''Scream'' films, various acts of violence had taken place which had gained notoriety and media attention when they were linked to, or blamed on, the films. Eager to avoid further criticism or connection to such incidents, Williamson's notes were largely discarded as the studio insisted that the script should focus on the comedic elements of the series while significantly reducing the violence. The setting of the film was changed from Woodsboro to
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...
upon which Kruger commented that he believed the characters should be moving to "bigger" places from
high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
, to
college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offerin ...
to the city of Hollywood. Behind the scenes however, the move away from Woodsboro was mandated as it was considered that a film containing violent acts of murder in and around the small town of Woodsboro and the associated school would attract significant negative criticism and attention that could be detrimental to the production and studio, the film set for release less than a year following the Columbine incident. Kruger agreed to develop the script for ''Scream 3'' primarily to work with Craven and the executives under
Miramax Miramax, LLC, also known as Miramax Films, is an American film and television production and distribution company founded on December 19, 1979, by brothers Harvey and Bob Weinstein, and based in Los Angeles, California. It was initially a lea ...
; he said of his decision to take on writing duties on the film: To help in developing the script, Kruger read copies of Williamson's scripts for ''Scream'' and ''Scream 2'', as well as watched the earlier films to better understand the characters and tone. In an interview, Kruger admitted that his lack of involvement with the development of the principal cast of ''Scream'' hampered his ability to portray them true to their previous characterization. Early scripts for ''Scream 3'' had the character of Sidney Prescott much like " Linda Hamilton in '' Terminator 2: Judgment Day''" – a more action-orientated heroine – at which point Craven would intervene and correct the script to bring the characters closer to their previous appearances. Kruger admitted that despite not receiving any writing credit, Craven had a significant hand in developing the script for ''Scream 3''. Like ''Scream 2'', the script for ''Scream 3'' was subject to repeated alterations with pages sometimes completed only on the day on which they were to be filmed. Multiple scenes were rewritten to include previously absent characters or change elements of the plot when it was decided that they were not connecting with other scenes. In a 2013 interview, Williamson further detailed his original script, which would have seen the killers be a "Stab" fan club of Woodsboro kids. All the members of the club would have been involved in the killings and the final twist "of the movie was when Sidney walked into the house after Ghostface had killed everyone ... and they all rose up. None of them were actually dead and they'd planned the whole thing." Williamson later adapted this story for his 2013 TV series ''
The Following ''The Following'' is an American crime thriller television series created by Kevin Williamson, and jointly produced by Outerbanks Entertainment and Warner Bros. Television. The first season follows former FBI agent Ryan Hardy ( Kevin Bacon) ...
''.


Casting

Neve Campbell,
Courteney Cox Courteney Bass Cox (previously Courteney Cox Arquette; born June 15, 1964) is an American actress and filmmaker. She gained international recognition for her starring role as Monica Geller on the NBC sitcom ''Friends'', which aired from 1994 ...
,
David Arquette David Arquette (born September 8, 1971) is an American actor and former professional wrestler. He is best known for his role as Dewey Riley in the slasher film franchise ''Scream'', for which he won a Teen Choice Award and two Blockbuster En ...
, and
Liev Schreiber Isaac Liev Schreiber (; born October 4, 1967) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and narrator. He became known during the late 1990s and early 2000s after appearing in several independent films, and later mainstream Hollywood ...
all returned to their roles as Sidney Prescott and news reporter Gale Weathers, Dewey Riley, and Cotton Weary, now host of a TV show, respectively for ''Scream 3'', their characters being the only central roles to survive the events of the previous two films. In an interview, Craven stated that convincing the central cast to return to film a new ''Scream'' film was not difficult but as with ''Scream 2'', their burgeoning fame and busy schedules made arranging their availability with the film's production period difficult. The consequence of Campbell's commitments in particular meant she was only available to film her role for 20 days forcing the script to reduce the series' main character to a smaller role while focusing on the other characters played by Cox and Arquette. Lynn McCree finally makes a physical appearance in the series as Maureen Prescott (though only through an hallucination of Sidney), and Sidney now is a crisis counselor. Roger L. Jackson again returned to voice the antagonist Ghostface and
Jamie Kennedy James Harvey Kennedy (born May 25, 1970) is an American actor and comedian. He has played Randy Meeks in the '' Scream'' franchise (1996–2000) and a multitude of characters in ''The Jamie Kennedy Experiment'' (2002–2004) on The WB. His ot ...
reprised his role as Randy Meeks in spite of the character's death in ''Scream 2''. Negative feedback following the death of Randy had the production consider methods to have had his character survive to appear in ''Scream 3'' including having the character's family hide him away for safety while recuperating from his injuries, but it was deemed too unbelievable and the idea was replaced with the character appearing in a minor role via a pre-recorded video message. Many of the supporting cast played fictitious actors taking part in the
film within a film A story within a story, also referred to as an embedded narrative, is a literary device in which a character within a story becomes the narrator of a second story (within the first one). Multiple layers of stories within stories are sometimes c ...
''Stab 3'' including
Emily Mortimer Emily Kathleen Anne Mortimer (born 6 October 1971) is a British-American actress. She began acting in stage productions and has since appeared in several film and television roles. In 2003, she won an Independent Spirit Award for her performanc ...
as Angelina Tyler, Parker Posey as Jennifer Jolie,
Matt Keeslar Matthew Keeslar (born October 15, 1972) is an American retired actor and practicing PA-C (certified physician assistant). He is an instructor of urology at the Oregon Health & Science University's School of Medicine. Life and career Matthew K ...
as Tom Prinze,
Jenny McCarthy Jennifer McCarthy Wahlberg (' Jennifer Ann McCarthy; born November 1, 1972) is an American actress, model, and television personality. She began her career in 1993 as a nude model for ''Playboy'' magazine and was later named their Playmate of ...
as
Sarah Darling Sarah Ann Darling (born October 4, 1982) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She has worked and toured in Nashville, Los Angeles, and the UK. Her last full album release, Wonderland, reached #1 on the official UK Country Charts. ...
, and
Deon Richmond Deon Richmond (born April 2, 1978) is an American actor from New York City who is best known for his recurring roles as Rudy Huxtable's friend Kenny (nicknamed "Bud") on the NBC sitcom ''The Cosby Show'' and Jordan Bennett on the ABC/The WB sit ...
as Tyson Fox with
Scott Foley Scott Kellerman Foley (born July 15, 1972) is an American actor and director. Foley is known for roles in television shows such as '' The Unit'', '' Scrubs'', '' Felicity'', and '' Scandal'', and in films such as '' Scream 3''. He has a ...
as the film's director, Roman Bridger. Additional cast included
Lance Henriksen Lance Henriksen (born May 5, 1940) is an American actor. He is known for his works in various science fiction, action and horror films, such as that of Bishop in the ''Alien'' film franchise, and Frank Black in Fox television series ''Millenn ...
as
film producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...
John Milton John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet and intellectual. His 1667 epic poem ''Paradise Lost'', written in blank verse and including over ten chapters, was written in a time of immense religious flux and politica ...
, Patrick Dempsey as detective Mark Kincaid,
Patrick Warburton Patrick Warburton (born November 14, 1964) is an American actor. On television, he has played David Puddy on '' Seinfeld'', the title character on ''The Tick'', Jeb Denton on ''Less Than Perfect'', Jeff Bingham on '' Rules of Engagement'' and L ...
as bodyguard Steven Stone, and Kelly Rutherford as
Christine Hamilton Mary Christine Hamilton (''née'' Holman; born 10 November 1949) is an English media personality and author. She is married to Neil Hamilton, the former Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Tatton. Hamilton and her husband have become p ...
, girlfriend to Cotton Weary. Rutherford was cast after filming had begun as the production was undergoing constant rewrites and the opening scene evolved from requiring only a female corpse to needing a live actress with whom Schreiber could interact. Shortly after being cast, Mortimer was found to lack the necessary work permit to allow her involvement in the film, requiring her to be flown to
Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...
to obtain one. ''Scream 3'' also featured the first live on-screen appearance of Sidney Prescott's mother Maureen Prescott, played by Lynn McRee, the actress previously having represented the character in photographs during the previous films. Lawrence Hecht and C.W. Morgan appeared in minor roles reprising their characters of Sidney's father Neil Prescott and Hank Loomis respectively. Nancy O'Dell appeared as an unnamed reporter, having previously appeared in ''Scream 2'' and would go on to appear in '' Scream 4'' in the same role. ''Scream 3'' featured several cameo appearances including the fictional characters of
Jay and Silent Bob Jay and Silent Bob are fictional characters portrayed by Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith, respectively, in Kevin Smith's View Askewniverse, a fictional universe created and used in most of the films, comics, and television programs written and pro ...
from the 1994 film ''
Clerks A clerk is someone who works in an office. A retail clerk works in a store. Office holder Clerk(s) may also refer to a person who holds an office, most commonly in a local unit of government, or a court. *Barristers' clerk, a manager and adminis ...
'' played by Jason Mewes and
Kevin Smith Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American filmmaker, actor, comedian, comic book writer, author, YouTuber, and podcaster. He came to prominence with the low-budget comedy buddy film '' Clerks'' (1994), which he wrote, directed, ...
, and director
Roger Corman Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...
as an on-set studio executive. Carrie Fisher made a cameo in the film as former actress Bianca Burnette at the suggestion of
Bob Weinstein Robert Weinstein (born October 18, 1954) is an American film producer. He is the founder and head of Dimension Films, former co-chairman of Miramax Films and The Weinstein Company, all of which he co-founded with his older brother, Harvey. He ...
; Fisher helped to write her character. In a 2009 interview, Matthew Lillard, who played Stu Macher in ''Scream'', said that he had been contracted to reprise his role in ''Scream 3'' as the primary antagonist, having survived his apparent death, orchestrating new Ghostface attacks from prison on high school students and ultimately targeting Sidney. Following the
Columbine High School massacre On April 20, 1999, a school shooting and attempted bombing occurred at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado, United States. The perpetrators, 12th grade students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, murdered 12 students and one teacher. ...
shortly before production began, the script was scrapped and re-written without his character and this plot to avoid development of a film which associated violence and murder with a high school setting.


Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as ...
for ''Scream 3'' began on July 6, 1999 in and around
Hollywood, Los Angeles Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Picture ...
on a budget of $40million and finished on September 29, 1999 after twelve weeks. Filming took place largely in the areas of
San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...
, Macarthur Park,
Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. ...
,
Hollywood Hills The Hollywood Hills are a residential neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Geography The Hollywood Hills straddle the Cahuenga Pass within the Santa Monica Mountains. The neighborhood touches Studio City, Un ...
and Silver Lake with the isolated home of Campbell's character situated in
Topanga Canyon Topanga () (Tongva: ''Topaa'nga'') is a census-designated place (CDP) in western Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located in the Santa Monica Mountains, the community exists in Topanga Canyon and the surrounding hills. The narrow s ...
. The opening scene involves Cotton Weary (Schreiber) driving before arriving home where he is murdered by the Ghostface character. For the driving scene, the production filmed on
Hollywood Boulevard Hollywood Boulevard is a major east–west street in Los Angeles, California. It begins in the east at Sunset Boulevard in the Los Feliz district and proceeds to the west as a major thoroughfare through Little Armenia and Thai Town, Hollywoo ...
but the following scene in Cotton's apartment was changed frequently, requiring alterations to the driving scene to maintain continuity, modifying who speaks to Cotton by phone and what the conversation entailed. Unable to return to Hollywood Boulevard, the scene was reshot on a street outside of the production studio in San Fernando Valley and intermixed with footage taken on the Boulevard. The opening attack scene was filmed partially at the exterior and interior of Harper House in
West Hollywood West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. It is considered one of the most prominent gay villages ...
but changes were made to the scene including introducing a live girlfriend for Cotton instead of her being dead when Cotton arrives. It was later decided that the confrontation between Cotton and Ghostface, featuring Cotton physically dominating the character and attempting to escape by
skylight A skylight (sometimes called a rooflight) is a light-permitting structure or window, usually made of transparent or translucent glass, that forms all or part of the roof space of a building for daylighting and ventilation purposes. History Open ...
, was unrealistic and made Ghostface appear weak and this scene was reshot. Again however, they were unable to return to Harper House to conduct filming and resorted to constructing a replica of the apartment interior to produce the necessary footage which had the Ghostface character appear more dominant and completely excised the attempted skylight escape. Cox's character is introduced during a seminar which takes place within a
classroom A classroom or schoolroom is a learning space in which both children and adults learn. Classrooms are found in educational institutions of all kinds, ranging from preschools to universities, and may also be found in other places where education ...
at
UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...
, a location previously used in ''Scream 2'' to represent the fictional Windsor College. The
film studio A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company or motion picture company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to make films, which is handled by the productio ...
where the fictional ''Stab 3'' is filmed is represented by the
CBS Studio Center Radford Studio Center, alternatively CBS Studio Center, is a television and film studio located in the Studio City district of Los Angeles in the San Fernando Valley. The lot has 18 sound stages from , of office space, and 223 dressing rooms. ...
in Studio City, San Fernando Valley while scenes at the home of Posey's character were filmed in the
Hollywood Hills The Hollywood Hills are a residential neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Geography The Hollywood Hills straddle the Cahuenga Pass within the Santa Monica Mountains. The neighborhood touches Studio City, Un ...
at Runyon Ranch in
Runyon Canyon Park Runyon Canyon Park is a park in Los Angeles, California, at the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains, managed by the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks. The southern entrance to the park is located at the north end of Fuller Av ...
. The finale, featuring the final attacks of the film and confrontation between the antagonist and Sidney, was filmed at the
Canfield-Moreno Estate The Canfield-Moreno Estate is a historic residence and estate located in the Moreno Highlands neighborhood of Silver Lake, Los Angeles, California, Silver Lake, Los Angeles, California. It was designated as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument ...
, a mansion in Silverlake. A scene in the film involved Campbell being pursued by Ghostface through filmset replicas of locations from the original '' Scream'' including her character's home. The scene was not present in the script itself, but Craven paid to have the sets constructed, knowing he wanted to revisit the original film in some manner. After the construction of the sets, the scene was then written around the resulting areas producing the scene in the final film. The script underwent changes repeatedly as filming was conducted with pages regularly only available on the day of filming. Additionally, if the production decided to change a scene this sometimes meant refilming other scenes to maintain continuity requiring further rewrites. The production team purposely filmed large amounts of footage containing different variations of each scene based on the different script developments in order that, should the script further change, they would ideally have a scene they could use without having to film new ones at a later date, requiring them to obtain access to locations or build sets. The opening scene in particular had several alternate versions filmed, initially altering the girlfriend of Schreiber's character from dead to alive, resulting in the prior driving scene being changed to alter dialog and tone to make sense with the changes. Additionally, a three-minute scene featuring the character of Randy Meeks had over two hours of footage filmed. The script for the film was so in flux that the epilogue scene was filmed with three variants of Patrick Dempsey's character – one with him absent, one where his arm is
bandage A bandage is a piece of material used either to support a medical device such as a dressing or splint, or on its own to provide support to or to restrict the movement of a part of the body. When used with a dressing, the dressing is applie ...
d and one with him in a normal condition – as the production were not certain what his ultimate fate would be following the finalization of the film.


Post-production

In January 2000, three months after completing principal photography for ''Scream 3'', the ending was refilmed when it was decided to be an inadequate conclusion. Originally the ending consisted of Sidney (Campbell) easily defeating Roman (Scott Foley) which led into an early morning scene of police arriving and then into the final scene of Sidney in her home. The production considered that this amounted to essentially three endings, damaging the pacing of the film and there was also consideration that, being the concluding chapter of the trilogy, the audience needed to believe that Sidney could lose and die, something her easy victory did not achieve. To create the alternate ending, the fight scene between Sidney and Roman was extended and an addition involved Roman shooting Sidney, seemingly to death where previously she had simply hidden from the character. A major addition was the presence of the character Mark Kincaid ( Patrick Dempsey), who had previously been completely absent from the finale, after the production realized that his character simply disappeared from the plot and his story arc went nowhere. As with production of ''Scream'', Craven encountered repeated conflicts over censorship with the
MPAA The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distrib ...
regarding violence, and the director stated in an interview that the issues made him consider leaving the horror genre.


Music

Marco Beltrami Marco Beltrami (born October 7, 1966) is an American composer and conductor of film and television scores. He has worked in a number of genres, including horror ('' Scream'', '' Mimic, The Faculty, Resident Evil, The Woman in Black, A Quiet P ...
returned to score ''Scream 3'', having scored the previous two films in the series. For the film, Beltrami employed seven orchestrators to aid in scoring the extensive orchestral accompaniment featured in the film's score. He experimented with new styles of sound production by recording instruments in abnormal circumstances such as inserting objects into a piano and recording at various velocities to create a distorted, unnatural sound and modifying the results electronically. Beltrami continued to incorporate a heavy vocal orchestra throughout the score as he had with the previous films. There was consideration that Beltrami was forced to hire multiple orchestrators to complete the score to meet the film's deadline. Beltrami took inspiration from other composers for the score, again incorporating excerpts of the score to '' Broken Arrow'' by Hans Zimmer in the track "Sid Wears a Dress".


Reception

''Scream 3'' held its
premiere A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition. A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its fi ...
on February 3, 2000, at the AMC Avco theater in
Westwood, Los Angeles, California Westwood is a commercial and residential neighborhood in the northern central portion of the Westside region of Los Angeles, California. It is the home of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Bordering the campus on the south ...
with a public release following on February 4, 2000.


Box office

The film set a record in its opening weekend in February 2000 for the number of screens in the United States with 3,467, which also made it the 7th widest opening for an R-Rated film. This was surpassed the same year in May by '' Mission: Impossible 2'' with 3,653. The film earned $34,713,342 during its opening weekend ranking number one at the box office. It is the 11th highest grossing opening weekend in a February. It went on to accrue $89.1million in the US and $72.7million in other territories with a world lifetime-gross of $161.8million.


Critical reaction

On
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...
, the film holds an approval rating of 41% based on 126 reviews, and an average rating of 5.20/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Despite some surprising twists, ''Scream 3'' sees the franchise falling back on the same old horror formulas and cliches it once hacked and slashed with postmodern abandon." On
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, the film has a weighted average score of 56 out of 100, based on 32 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". On
CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...
, audiences gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale. '' Time Out London'' was particularly critical of the film, calling the film's
metafiction Metafiction is a form of fiction which emphasises its own narrative structure in a way that continually reminds the audience that they are reading or viewing a fictional work. Metafiction is self-conscious about language, literary form, and stor ...
commentary a poor imitation of Craven's own horror film '' Wes Craven's New Nightmare'' (1994). Of the characters, Roger Ebert said "
he characters He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...
are so thin, they're transparent" but praised Campbell's appearance saying, "The camera loves her. She could become a really big star and then giggle at clips from this film at her AFI tribute." In a positive review, the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...
'' called the film, "Genuinely scary and also highly amusing", and the BBC stated that "as the conclusion to the trilogy it works more effectively than anyone had a right to expect". ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' also praised the film as the end of the ''Scream'' trilogy, saying "Aficionados will be the best able to appreciate how wittily Craven has brought down the curtain on his much-imitated, genre-reviving series" while ''
Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
'' called it "satisfying" though believed the premise of the series had worn thin.


Post-2017 re-evaluation

In the wake of the
scandal A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way. Th ...
involving the ''Scream'' films' executive producer
Harvey Weinstein Harvey Weinstein (; born March 19, 1952) is an American former film producer and convicted sex offender. He and his brother, Bob Weinstein, co-founded the entertainment company Miramax, which produced several successful independent films includ ...
, several publications noted the parallels between Weinstein's behavior and the themes of abuse featured in the film, particularly those involving Maureen Prescott, the late mother of the film series' protagonist, Sidney. In 2017, Kristen Yoonsoo Kim noted the scene in which John Milton, portrayed by
Lance Henriksen Lance Henriksen (born May 5, 1940) is an American actor. He is known for his works in various science fiction, action and horror films, such as that of Bishop in the ''Alien'' film franchise, and Frank Black in Fox television series ''Millenn ...
, discusses taking advantage of aspiring actresses. In 2019, the film's editor, Patrick Lussier, discussed those particular themes and Wes Craven's approach to them, saying of Henriksen's character: "Wes, I think, was very interested in that character as not necessarily the villain—he certainly is a villain—but as a catalyst for the villain's motivation. He's really the spark for the events, or retconned that he is the spark for the events, in the entire series." In 2020, Adam White wrote that the film was "an angry indictment of sexual misconduct in Hollywood, predatory men and the casting couch". He noted several instances of "transactional sex" within the film, including the characters Jennifer and Angelina both making references to having sex with filmmakers in order to secure roles in the fictional ''Stab'' film, and Carrie Fisher in a cameo role (as a lookalike of Fisher herself) who claims that the role of
Princess Leia Princess Leia Organa is a fictional character and one of the main protagonists in the ''Star Wars'' franchise, portrayed in films by Carrie Fisher. Introduced in the original ''Star Wars'' film in 1977, Leia is princess of the planet Alderaa ...
in the ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various film ...
'' franchise was won by "the one who [slept] with George Lucas". White also noted that Rose McGowan, who appeared in the first '' Scream'' film, later accused Weinstein of raping her in a hotel room a year after the film was released. McGowan revealed in 2017 that she received a $100,000 settlement as a result of this attack. Writing for SyFy Wire, Emma Fraser commented that throughout the series, the late Maureen is "Slut-shaming, slut-shamed" and "Victim blaming, victim-blamed". Fraser also lamented the film's lack of exploration of these themes, stating that the film "could have been a fascinating look at the crimes of this industry and the relationship horror has with sex".


Home media

''Scream 3'' was released in US territories on VHS and on DVD on July 4, 2000, by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, Buena Vista Home Video. The video was later released as a bonus edition on October 24, 2000, by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, Buena Vista Home Video. The DVD version was only released as a Special edition, Collector's Edition featuring deleted scenes, outtakes, audio commentary, music videos of songs featured in the film, trailers for the film and biographies on the cast and crew involved in the film's production. Following the release of ''Scream 3'' as what was then the concluding chapter of the series, Collector's Editions of ''Scream'', ''Scream 2'', and ''Scream 3'' were packaged in "The Ultimate Scream Collection" DVD boxset by Dimension Films on September 26, 2000, which included "Behind the Scream", a short documentary about the production of the films, outtakes, deleted scenes, screentests of actors involved in the films and other miscellaneous materials related to the series. In 2001, the DVD release of ''Scream 3'' was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Home Video Release but lost to ''Princess Mononoke'' (1997). ''Scream 3'' remained unreleased in foreign territories including Europe and Japan until 2001 where it was simultaneously released with ''Scream'' and ''Scream 2'' on February 26 by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, Buena Vista Home Entertainment. Each film contained the additional content found in the Collector's Edition version of their US release including deleted scenes, outtakes, theatrical trailers, music videos and commentary from each respective film's crew. Additionally, the three films were collected together in a single pack, again released on February 26 and released as "Scream Trilogy". ''Scream 3'' was released on the Blu-ray Disc format on March 29, 2011, alongside ''Scream'', and ''Scream 2'', two weeks prior to the release of ''Scream 4'', by Lionsgate Home Entertainment, hosting the films in 1080p High-definition video, high definition and included audio commentary, theatrical trailers and behind-the-scenes footage for each respective film.


Soundtrack

''Scream 3: The Album'' is the original soundtrack album to the film ''Scream 3''. Released on January 25, 2000 by Wind-up Records, the album features 18 songs consisting largely of the Heavy metal music, metal genre by artists such as System of a Down, Slipknot (band), Slipknot, Powerman 5000, Full Devil Jacket, Godsmack, Sevendust, Incubus (band), Incubus, Static-X and Coal Chamber, some of which are represented in the film. The Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds song "Red Right Hand" is played in the film, having been heard in all three films. Nick Cave wrote a "sequel" to the song just for the film, which can be heard in the closing credits. This song was later included in The Seeds' ''B-Sides & Rarities (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds album), B-Sides & Rarities'' album. Additionally,
Marco Beltrami Marco Beltrami (born October 7, 1966) is an American composer and conductor of film and television scores. He has worked in a number of genres, including horror ('' Scream'', '' Mimic, The Faculty, Resident Evil, The Woman in Black, A Quiet P ...
uses a few notes from the song in his score. Also, the Creed (band), Creed song "What If (Creed song), What If" features a music video which resembles the happenings of the movie, and includes a cameo by
David Arquette David Arquette (born September 8, 1971) is an American actor and former professional wrestler. He is best known for his role as Dewey Riley in the slasher film franchise ''Scream'', for which he won a Teen Choice Award and two Blockbuster En ...
. The video can be seen in the DVD release of the movie. Creed also recorded the song "Is This the End" just for the film and can also be heard in the closing credits. On February 23, 2000, ''Scream 3: The Album'' was certified RIAA certification#Records, gold by the Recording Industry Association of America, signifying that the album achieved sales in excess of 500,000 units. The album fared better than its predecessors, spending 14 weeks on the Billboard 200, ''Billboard'' 200 and reaching a top rank of number 32. It scored a 2.5 out of 5 from music guide AllMusic. Reviewer Steve Huey said that the "high pedigree" of the album's contributors had produced a "pretty listenable album". The album was released on iTunes on February 1, 2012.


Notes


References


External links

* * * * {{Authority control Scream (film series) films, 3 2000 films 2000 comedy horror films 2000 independent films 2000s horror thriller films 2000s mystery thriller films 2000s satirical films 2000s serial killer films 2000s slasher films American horror thriller films American independent films American mystery horror films American mystery thriller films American satirical films American sequel films American serial killer films American slasher films Dimension Films films Films about filmmaking Films about fratricide and sororicide Films about Hollywood, Los Angeles Films about siblings Films directed by Wes Craven Films produced by Cathy Konrad Films scored by Marco Beltrami Films set in Los Angeles Films set in studio lots Films shot in Los Angeles Film controversies in the United States Sexual-related controversies in film Films with screenplays by Ehren Kruger Post-traumatic stress disorder in fiction Self-reflexive films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films