Scream’s Stab Movies

Stab 3: Return to Woodsboro

2000

Status: Unfinished
Released: Never released. Planned for 2000.
Studio: Sunrise Studios
Seen in: Scream 3, Scream 6
Distributor: Sunrise Studios

The first film established the rules... the second bent the rules... In the third, you can forget all the rules.

Directed by: Roman Bridger
Written by: Will Kennison
Produced by: John Milton, Don Crosby, Bill Birch, Floyd Malone, Virginia Grey, Roland Lake, Will Kennison
Music by: Dante Paltrow
Based on: An original story. The disaster that ended it later inspired Gale Weathers’ book Hollywood Horror: The True Story of Stab 3

The Film

A major turning point for the franchise, and the first entry to tell a semi-original story rather than adapt an actual Ghost Face killing spree. It was built around entirely fictional events while keeping its ties to the core mythology. It opens with Cotton Weary playing himself before being murdered by Ghost Face early on. A new character, Candy Brooks, played by the fictional actress Sarah Darling, gets a brutal pre-shower death that echoes Casey Becker in the original. The surviving trio of Gale, Sidney and Dewey then reunite to hunt the killer and stop the new spree. It was never finished.

Return to Woodsboro was meant to be the third and final Stab film, and the first not based on a real killing spree. The Sunrise Studios website pitched it as the terrifying and revealing final chapter that answers why the past will not leave Sidney alone.

The pieces of the script shown in Scream 3 go like this. Cotton Weary plays himself in a cameo and is murdered by Ghost Face early in the film. Next comes Candy Brooks, played by Sarah Darling, who is killed before she can take a shower, a callback to Casey Becker in the first Stab. Candy is only in two scenes, and one of her lines is that they are not in any danger.

Sidney, Gale and Dewey reunite back in Woodsboro to find the killer. They are joined by Ricky Wafford, a video store clerk written as a stand-in for Randy Meeks, who was to die with a pair of scissors in the head. In at least one version of the script, Gale is the third to die.

Three different versions of the script were written so the ending would not leak. Jennifer Jolie, who played Gale, believed she was the killer in her version. She screams it at Ghost Face just before he stabs her in Scream 3. Nobody in Scream 3 confirms whether that was true in every draft.

The film was never finished. Director Roman Bridger was secretly the real Ghost Face, and he killed the cast in the order their characters died in the script. Production was shut down after Sarah Darling's murder, and the story of what happened became Gale Weathers' book Hollywood Horror and the released film Stab 3: Hollywood Horror.

Release & Reception

Status: Unfinished. Production shut down after the murders of Cotton Weary and Sarah Darling.

The film was never released. Inside the story, the murders made the production a Hollywood scandal and led straight to Gale's book Hollywood Horror.

The real Scream 3 opened February 4, 2000, after a February 3 premiere in Westwood, and grossed about $162 million worldwide on a $40 million budget according to Wikipedia.

Deleted Scenes & Trivia

Three versions of the Stab 3 script existed inside the story. Jennifer Jolie's version apparently made Gale the killer.
According to the Scream Wiki, much of the Scream 3 shoot had Angelina Tyler as Roman's secret accomplice, with her death a fake-out, and that version had Angelina kill Sarah Darling and Tom Prinze. That ending was dropped. Unconfirmed, fan wiki only.
A scene where Tom Prinze asks Angelina out and is turned down was cut. The Scream Wiki says Wes Craven mentions cutting it on the DVD commentary. Unconfirmed, fan wiki only.
Unconfirmed, fan wiki only: the Scream Wiki claims deleted scenes show the Stab 3 script killing Gale third and unmasking her as the killer.

Trivia

Sarah Darling complains that Candy is only in two scenes and is the girl who gets killed second, and that she is 35 playing a 21-year-old. Jenny McCarthy's Sarah is also killed after two scenes.
Tyson Fox insists in Scream 3 that Ricky is not a Randy substitute.
Wes Craven makes a cameo as a tourist behind Jay and Silent Bob outside the Stab 3 set.
In Scream VI, Ghost Face tells Gale she would have made the most sense as a killer of the original trio, a nod to Jennifer Jolie's claim about the Stab 3 script.
SunriseSucks.com's list of clues says Angelina Tyler food-poisoned other contestants in the casting contest, that Sarah Darling and Tom Prinze were seen around town together, that Will Kennison and Jerry Rapp clashed over the script, and that commissary chef Martin Stevens might use Stab 3 to avenge his son Phil.
Dates do not agree. The Sunrise Studios website said casting would start in November 1999, the Scream Wiki says a fax page in Scream 3 carries a 1999 date, and the murder board in Scream VI puts the Hollywood murders in 2000.
A TV reporter in Scream 3 says Cotton had shot his cameo, but in the opening Cotton is still arguing about doing it for more money.
The Fandom history of the series says the producers passed on Robert Rodriguez, director of the first two films, and hired music video director Roman Bridger instead.
Unconfirmed, fan wiki only: the Scream Wiki gives the planned release as Christmas Day 2000.
Unconfirmed, fan wiki only: the Scream Wiki says the tagline on the fake website was The first one hurt. The second one hurt worse. This one's really gonna hurt! The archived Sunrise Stab 3 page uses a different line.
The three-scripts idea is a joke about real life. The screenplay for Scream 2 leaked online while that film was still being made.

Confirmed on screen

The production office, the prop house and the costume storage were all at Sunrise Studios.
Jennifer Jolie returned as Gale. Tori Spelling and David Schwimmer both left the series. Angelina Tyler was brought in as the new Sidney after reportedly beating out fifty thousand hopefuls in a huge talent search, and Tom Prinze was cast as the new Dewey.
Tyson Fox played Ricky Wafford, a character built on Randy Meeks, who was to be killed by scissors to the head.
Dewey Riley worked on the film as technical advisor, blurring the line between the real survivors and the studio franchise even further.
Gale Weathers’ death was planned for this entry, though accounts conflict over whether she or somebody else was the actual killer. According to Jennifer Jolie, Gale may have been revealed as the murderer in at least one version of the script.
Three distinct versions of the script were written. Those multiple scripts became part of the deadly chaos around the production, because the real Ghost Face appeared to be targeting the actors in the order their characters were scripted to die.
Producer John Milton did not rehire Robert Rodriguez. He hired Roman Bridger instead, a hot young music video director, and that decision proved catastrophic.
Bridger was Sidney Prescott’s unwanted, secret half-brother, and he never recovered from being rejected by Maureen Prescott years earlier. He had secretly orchestrated all of the Ghost Face killings from the beginning, mentoring Billy Loomis as part of his revenge against Sidney and everyone around her.
Before Dewey Riley shot and killed him, Bridger carried out a massacre. He murdered Christine Hamilton, Cotton Weary, Sarah Darling, Tom Prinze, Angelina Tyler, Tyson Fox, Jennifer Jolie and John Milton.
The bloodbath permanently halted production and made it one of the most infamous unfinished productions in Hollywood.
The disaster inspired Gale Weathers’ book Hollywood Horror: The True Story of Stab 3, which became the basis for the film that replaced it. Return to Woodsboro stayed unfinished, but the catastrophe that ended it became the actual Stab sequel.
Scream 3 shows a great deal of the production: Woodsboro rebuilt on the studio back lot including Sidney’s house and Tatum’s garage, the production office, the prop house and the costume store.
The green Ghost Face wall piece from the production office, the set slate, a script and a film reel all appear in the shrine in Scream 6.

Unofficial

A tagline given as "The first one hurt. The second one hurt worse. This one’s really gonna hurt!"
The claim that one of the three script versions made Gale Weathers the killer. Jennifer Jolie said it, but it was never confirmed.

Connections

Scream 3 is built around this production.
Continues from Stab 2; replaced by Stab 3: Hollywood Horror, based on Gale Weathers' book Hollywood Horror about the murders.
Scream VI: production materials from the set, the green mask, the fax machine and other items are in the Ghost Face shrine.
The three-scripts idea points back to the real leak of the Scream 2 script.

Sources

Cast & Production

Cast

Angelina Tyler

Sidney Prescott

Fictional actress played by Emily Mortimer in Scream 3. Won a much-hyped talent search over 50,000 hopefuls after Tori Spelling left the series.

Jennifer Jolie

Gale Weathers

Fictional actress played by Parker Posey. The only returning Stab cast member.

Tom Prinze

Dewey Riley

Fictional actor played by Matt Keeslar. Replaced David Schwimmer.

Tyson Fox

Ricky Wafford

Fictional actor played by Deon Richmond.

Sarah Darling

Candy Brooks

Fictional actress played by Jenny McCarthy. A 35-year-old playing a 21-year-old.

Cotton Weary

Himself

Cameo. Played by Liev Schreiber in Scream 3.

Barry Barclay

Computer Geek #1

Listed by the Scream Wiki only. Unconfirmed.

Crew

Roman Bridger

Director, a music video director hired to replace the original director. Played by Scott Foley in Scream 3.

Fred Rifkin

Original director, fired (Sunrise Studios website and SunriseSucks.com)

Jerry Rapp

Named as the fired director in SunriseSucks.com's 52 clues, which contradicts the Rifkin story on the same site

Will Kennison

Screenwriter and producer

John Milton

Producer. Played by Lance Henriksen in Scream 3.

Don Crosby

Executive producer (Sunrise Studios website). Roger Corman cameos in Scream 3 as a studio executive, and the Scream Wiki identifies that character as Crosby. Unconfirmed.

Bill Birch

Executive producer

Floyd Malone

Executive producer

Virginia Grey

Producer

Roland Lake

Producer

Dewey Riley

Technical advisor. Played by David Arquette in Scream 3.

Dante Paltrow

Composer (Scream Wiki only; unconfirmed)

Production

After Stab 2, Sunrise Studios greenlit a third film that would not be based on real murders, since there had been no new Ghost Face killings to adapt. The Sunrise Studios website of early 2000 listed Don Crosby, Bill Birch and Floyd Malone as executive producers, Virginia Grey, Roland Lake and Will Kennison as producers, Fred Rifkin as director and Kennison as writer, with casting to start in November 1999.

Tori Spelling and David Schwimmer did not come back. SunriseSucks.com says Spelling stayed away because of the feud between John Milton and Fred Rifkin on Stab 2. Angelina Tyler won the part of Sidney through a talent search against 50,000 hopefuls, and Tom Prinze took over as Dewey. Jennifer Jolie returned as Gale. Cotton Weary agreed to a cameo as himself.

Rifkin was fired and replaced by Roman Bridger, a music video director. SunriseSucks.com claims Bridger got the job because his agent, Beverly Choi of Zealous, Inc., was sleeping with Milton, and posted a hotel receipt dated two days before Milton and Crosby fired Rifkin. The same site's list of 52 clues instead says Jerry Rapp was fired and replaced by Bridger.

To stop the ending from leaking, three different scripts were written and new pages kept arriving. Sarah Darling complains in Scream 3 that there is a new script every 15 minutes. The joke comes from real life. The Scream 2 script leaked online during that shoot (Kevin Williamson said in 2017 that the leaked script was a dummy draft), and Scream 3's own script changed so often that pages were sometimes ready only on the day they were shot.

Dewey Riley worked on the film as technical advisor. The production built copies of Woodsboro locations on the Sunrise lot, including Sidney's old house. In the real world, Wes Craven paid for those replica sets before the chase scene through them was written.

Production collapsed during the Hollywood Ghost Face murders. Cotton and his girlfriend Christine Hamilton were killed first, then Sarah Darling was murdered at the production office and the studio shut the film down. That night, at a wrap party at Jennifer Jolie's house, bodyguard Steven Stone and Tom Prinze died. Roman killed Angelina Tyler, Tyson Fox, Jennifer Jolie and John Milton at his own birthday party at Milton's mansion before Dewey shot him.

In the real world, Scream 3 was written by Ehren Kruger from an outline by Kevin Williamson and directed by Wes Craven. Filming ran from July 6 to September 29, 1999, and the ending was reshot in January 2000.

Filming locations

Sunrise Studios backlot and soundstages, Los Angeles: Stab 3 sets rebuilding Woodsboro, including Sidney's house
Stab 3 production office, Sunrise Studios: Roman Bridger's office, the prop house and costume storage where Sarah Darling dies
CBS Studio Center, 4024 Radford Avenue, Studio City, California: Real studio lot standing in for Sunrise Studios in Scream 3 (Movie-Locations)
Runyon Ranch, Runyon Canyon Park, Hollywood Hills: Real location for Jennifer Jolie's house, where the script faxes arrive (Movie-Locations)
Canfield-Moreno Estate, 1923 Micheltorena Street, Silver Lake, Los Angeles: Real location for John Milton's mansion in Scream 3 (Wikipedia, Movie-Locations)

Effects and makeup

The Scream Wiki says the Stab 3 set props in Scream 3 were replicas because the originals from the first film had been destroyed, and that Parker Posey wore the same reporter costume Courteney Cox wore in Scream. Unconfirmed, fan wiki only.

Props and costumes

The production office has a wall display with a green Ghost Face mask and a rack of Ghost Face costumes, where Sarah Darling hides before she is killed.

The Stab 3 clapperboard, a copy of the script and a film reel are part of the Ghost Face shrine in Scream VI. The green Ghost Face mask from the production office, Jennifer Jolie's burnt fax machine and Tom Prinze's lighter are there too, according to the Scream Wiki.

The frying pan used on Steven Stone is also in the Scream VI shrine, according to the Scream Wiki and Bloody Disgusting.

Killers & Deaths

The killers

Gale Weathers (in Jennifer Jolie's version of the script)

Played by: Jennifer Jolie
Motive: Never revealed.
Death: Unknown. The film was never finished.

Roman Bridger, the director, as the real Ghost Face who shut the production down

Played by: Scott Foley (in Scream 3)
Motive: Revenge on his half-sister Sidney Prescott. He was born after Maureen Prescott was sexually assaulted while working in Hollywood as actress Rina Reynolds, and she rejected him when he found her.
Death: Stabbed by Sidney, then shot in the head by Dewey Riley at John Milton's mansion.

Deaths

Cotton Weary (character in the script)

Played by: Cotton Weary
How: Killed early in the film by Ghost Face, per the script
Where: Not stated
By: Ghost Face

Candy Brooks (character in the script)

Played by: Sarah Darling
How: Brutally killed before taking a shower, per the script
Where: Not stated
By: Ghost Face

Gale Weathers (character in one script)

Played by: Jennifer Jolie
How: Killed third in one version of the script
Where: Not stated
By: Ghost Face

Ricky Wafford (character in the script)

Played by: Tyson Fox
How: Stabbed in the head with scissors, per the script
Where: Not stated
By: Ghost Face

Christine Hamilton (real death during production)

Played by: Kelly Rutherford in Scream 3
How: Stabbed in the back after Cotton refused to tell the killer where Sidney was
Where: Cotton Weary's apartment, Los Angeles
By: Roman Bridger

Cotton Weary (real death during production)

Played by: Liev Schreiber in Scream 3
How: Stabbed after refusing to tell the killer where Sidney was
Where: His apartment, Los Angeles
By: Roman Bridger

Sarah Darling (real death during production)

Played by: Jenny McCarthy in Scream 3
How: Called to the studio for a fake meeting, chased through the costume room, swung into glass and stabbed in the back
Where: Costume room of the Stab 3 production office, Sunrise Studios
By: Roman Bridger

Steven Stone (real death during production)

Played by: Patrick Warburton in Scream 3
How: Stabbed in the back in Dewey's trailer and hit with a frying pan, then staggered to the house before dying
Where: Outside Jennifer Jolie's house
By: Roman Bridger

Tom Prinze (real death during production)

Played by: Matt Keeslar in Scream 3
How: The killer filled the house with gas and cut the power. Tom lit a lighter to read a faxed script page and set off the explosion.
Where: Jennifer Jolie's house
By: Roman Bridger

Angelina Tyler (real death during production)

Played by: Emily Mortimer in Scream 3
How: Stabbed in the chest
Where: John Milton's mansion
By: Roman Bridger

Tyson Fox (real death during production)

Played by: Deon Richmond in Scream 3
How: Thrown into a glass shelf, stabbed in the chest and thrown off a balcony
Where: John Milton's mansion
By: Roman Bridger

Jennifer Jolie (real death during production)

Played by: Parker Posey in Scream 3
How: Stabbed while trapped in the passage behind a two-way mirror, screaming that she was the killer in her version of the script
Where: John Milton's mansion
By: Roman Bridger

John Milton (real death during production)

Played by: Lance Henriksen in Scream 3
How: Throat slashed after Roman tied him up during Roman's birthday party
Where: His mansion
By: Roman Bridger

Music & Home Media

The official in-universe Scream 3/Stab 3 production website credited Dante Paltrow with the music for Return to Woodsboro. Production was halted before the film was finished, and no score album or completed soundtrack release is verified. The credit describes the abandoned production, not a released album.

Home Media

No home-media edition exists inside the story: Return to Woodsboro was never completed or released.
Surviving production material appears within Scream 3, and selected props later appear in the Scream VI shrine. Those appearances document the abandoned movie; they are not a Stab 3 home-video release.