Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett are a busy duo. Not content with bringing us Scream (confusingly, the fifth instalment in the slasher movie franchise), they're also planning to put a diabolical twist on the traditional high school reunion.
Deadline confirms that the movie is named Reunion, and will be arriving via distributor MGM. The film is described in the following terms: "In Reunion, the horrific experience of high school reunions is taken to a new extreme when a group of uninspired old friends become the only hope for survival against an unwelcome shape-shifting creature."
Thought drunken indiscretion and the reveal of sordid secrets was bad? Reunion may well put a paranormal twist on the usual cringe-inducing formula. Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett broke out with the 2018 horror-comedy Ready Or Not, a film that generated critical acclaim for its mixture of splattery gore and dark comedy. The film details a morbid parlour game in which a young bride (Samara Weaving) must fight for her life against her murderous in-laws, eventually turning the tables to grisly effect. The film's assured handling of tone landed the two directors with the gig to helm the new Scream movie.
Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette are all back to tackle the Ghostface killer, in the first Scream movie to be produced in the wake of Wes Craven's death. The feted director kickstarted the bloodthirsty and amusing horror franchise in 1996, working with screenwriter Kevin Williamson to juice the ailing slasher movie with grace notes of self-aware humour.
Scream mixes up familiar faces with new ones, including The Boys star Jack Quaid. Based on the track record of Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett, the movie would appear to be in good hands. Williamson has already praised the directors, posting on Instagram: "I’m excited for you to return to Woodsboro and get really scared again. I believe Wes would’ve been so proud of the film that Matt and Tyler are making". He also praised the cast of new and familiar faces who have "come together to continue Wes’s legacy with the upcoming relaunch of the franchise that I hold so dear to my heart."
Scream is scheduled for release in January 2022. Excited? Let us know @Cineworld.
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