Taglines: Someone has taken their love of sequels one step too far.
Scream 2 movie storyline. While attending a preview of the film Stab, a film within a film based on the Woodsboro murders depicted in the first film, two Ohio Windsor College seniors, Maureen Evans and Phil Stevens (Jada Pinkett Smith and Omar Epps) are murdered by Ghostface.
Phil is stabbed through the ear in a bathroom stall while trying to eavesdrop on strange whimpering noises. The killer, wearing a Ghostface costume, then returns to the screening and sits beside Maureen before mortally stabbing her. At first the audience believes she is part of the raucous acting out by audience members until she falls dead in front of the cinema screen.
The following day, the news media including local journalist Debbie Salt (Laurie Metcalf), descend on Windsor College where Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), a theatre major, now studies alongside her best friend Hallie (Elise Neal) and her new boyfriend Derek (Jerry O’Connell), fellow Woodsboro survivor Randy (Jamie Kennedy), and Derek’s best friend Mickey (Timothy Olyphant). Sidney receives prank calls but is oblivious to the recent killings until someone instructs her to watch the news.
Two other Woodsboro survivors arrive at the campus: officer Dewey Riley (David Arquette) to help Sidney, and reporter Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) to cover the case. Gale tries to stage a confrontation between Sidney and Cotton Weary (Liev Schreiber), who is attempting to gain fame from his exoneration for the murder of Sidney’s mother. After Gale forcibly confronts Sidney with Cotton, Sidney angrily hits Gale.
Later that evening, Sidney goes to a party with Hallie. At a sorority house, Ghostface kills fellow student Cici (Sarah Michelle Gellar). After all the partygoers leave, the killer then crashes the party and attempts to murder Sidney, though Derek intervenes. The killer injures Derek but Dewey and the police arrive, causing the killer to flee. The next morning, Gale discusses the case with the police. Upon realizing that Cici’s real name is Casey, she concludes that the killer is a copycat who targets students who share the same names as the Woodsboro murder victims.
That afternoon, while Gale is talking to Dewey and Randy on the campus lawn, she receives a call from Ghostface hinting that he is watching them. They search for him, but Randy, who tries to keep the killer on the phone, is dragged into Gale’s broadcast van and is stabbed to death by Ghostface. As night falls, Dewey and Gale review the tape of Ghostface killing Randy hoping to find some clues but the killer attacks them and seemingly kills Dewey. Gale hides and eventually escapes.
Scream 2 is a 1997 American slasher film directed by Wes Craven and written by Kevin Williamson. It stars David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jamie Kennedy, Laurie Metcalf, Jerry O’Connell, Jada Pinkett and Liev Schreiber.
The film was released on December 12, 1997 by Dimension Films as the second installment in the Scream film series. Like its predecessor, Scream 2 combines the violence of the slasher genre with elements of comedy and “whodunit” mystery while satirizing the cliché of film sequels. The film was followed by two sequels, Scream 3 (2000) and Scream 4 (2011).
Williamson provided a five-page outline for a sequel to Scream when auctioning his original script, hoping to entice bidders with the potential of buying a franchise. Following a successful test screening of Scream and the film’s financial and critical success, Dimension moved forward with the sequel while Scream was still in theaters, with the principal cast all returning to star, Craven to direct and Beltrami to provide music.
The film suffered controversy following its significant issues with plot information leaking onto the Internet, revealing the identity of the killers. Combined with the film’s rushed schedule, the script was rewritten often; pages were sometimes completed on the day of filming. Despite these issues, Scream 2 earned $172 million, received several awards and nominations.
Principal photography for Scream 2 took place over nine week period and on a budget of $24 million. Atlanta, Georgia and Los Angeles were used to represent the state of Ohio, where the fictional Windsor College is situated in Scream 2, with filming taking place largely in Atlanta over four weeks before finishing in Los Angeles. The opening scene featuring the premiere of the fictional “Stab” film was filmed over three days in the Vista theater on Sunset Drive, Hollywood, the exterior represented by the Rialto theater in South Pasadena, California.
Due to the large number of Extras present in the scene, full details of what occurred were leaked onto the Internet shortly after filming completed which Craven cited as the production’s first experience of a major plot leak. The sorority homes used by the character Cici Cooper and a nearby party were also filmed in Pasadena, east of Los Angeles. The fictional “Stab” film itself was filmed in Malibu, California. Agnes Scott College, just outside Atlanta, and UCLA in Los Angeles were used to represent the fictional Windsor College which appears in the film.
Following a script leak early into filming, security around the production was significantly increased, with a focus on closed filmsets and strict restriction on what personnel could be present during filming and have access to the script, with all present required to sign non-disclosure agreements. The script itself was reprinted on specialty paper to prevent photocopying and was often destroyed after use.
Scream 2 (1997)
Directed by: Wes Craven
Starring: David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jamie Kennedy, Laurie Metcalf, Jerry O’Connell, Jada Pinkett, Liev Schreiber, Heather Graham
Screenplay by: Kevin Williamson
Production Design by: Bob Ziembicki
Cinematography by: Peter Deming
Film Editing by: Patrick Lussier
Costume Design by: Kathleen Detoro
Set Decoration by: Bob Kensinger
Art Direction by: Ted Berner
Music by: Marco Beltrami
MPAA Rating: R for language and strong bloody violence.
Distributed by: Dimension Films
Release Date: December 12, 1997
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