Scream 4

The film opens inside a movie. Two teenage girls, Sherrie and Trudie, are killed by Ghostface in the opening of Stab 6. That turns out to be a scene two other girls, Rachel and Chloe, are watching at the start of Stab 7, and Chloe stabs Rachel while they complain about sequels. That in turn is what Woodsboro High students Jenny Randall and Marnie Cooper are watching on the fifteenth anniversary week of the original Woodsboro murders. Jenny goes upstairs to prank Marnie, Marnie goes silent, and a real Ghostface takes over the phone. Marnie's bloody body comes through a glass door. Jenny is chased into the garage, stabbed, and caught under the closing garage door before she is stabbed again.

The next morning Sheriff Dewey Riley is called downtown because someone has hung Ghostface costumes on the lampposts. His deputy Judy Hicks, who went to school with Sidney, is waiting with lemon squares. Deputy Anthony Perkins calls with news of the two murders. Kirby Reed picks up Jill Roberts, Sidney's teenage cousin, and Jill's neighbor Olivia Morris. Jill gets a threatening call from Jenny's phone, and Olivia admits she got one from Marnie's phone. At school, cinema club heads Charlie Walker and Robbie Mercer go around asking people for their favorite scary movie. At home, Gale Weathers-Riley stares at a blank page, stuck on a novel.

Sidney Prescott comes back to Woodsboro with her publicist Rebecca Walters for the last stop of the tour for her self-help book, Out of Darkness. The phone used to call the girls is traced to the bookstore area, and Dewey finds a bloody knife, the phone and photos of Sidney smeared with blood in the trunk of Sidney's rental car. Sidney is told she is a suspect and cannot leave town, so she stays with her aunt Kate Roberts and Jill. That night Jill's cheating ex-boyfriend Trevor Sheldon shows up and Sidney runs him off.

While Jill and Kirby watch Shaun of the Dead, Kirby gets a call from Ghostface, who says he is in the closet. Kirby checks hers and finds nothing. He tells her he never said he was in her closet. Across the way, Olivia is attacked in her bedroom and stabbed to death while Jill, Kirby and Sidney watch from Jill's window. Sidney runs over and finds Olivia gutted on her bed. Ghostface slashes Jill's arm, Sidney throws him down the stairs, and he vanishes before Deputies Hoss and Perkins arrive. Neighbors shout at Sidney that this is her fault.

At the hospital Sidney fires Rebecca for wanting to use the murders to sell books. Rebecca is stabbed in the parking garage and thrown off the roof onto a news van in the middle of Dewey's press conference. Gale teams up with Charlie and Robbie, who explain that the killer is remaking the original murders with new rules. They also let slip the Stab-a-thon, an all-night party in a barn where kids watch all seven Stab films. Gale sneaks in wearing a mask to plant cameras, finds a webcam someone else planted to watch her, and is stabbed in the shoulder. Dewey arrives, fires, and misses.

Outside the Roberts house, Hoss is stabbed from behind and Perkins is stabbed through the forehead. He walks a few steps before he dies. Ghostface calls Sidney and she finds Jill's room empty. Kate holds the front door shut and is stabbed through the mail slot. Judy arrives, and Sidney races to Kirby's house, where Jill, Kirby, Charlie, Robbie and Trevor are having an after-party. A drunk Robbie is stabbed while livestreaming and dies at the front door telling them to run. Sidney hides Jill and gets away from Ghostface by dropping off the roof. Outside, Charlie is taped to a chair and Ghostface makes Kirby answer horror trivia to save him. When she frees him, Charlie stabs her in the stomach and leaves her bleeding on the porch.

Charlie grabs Sidney, and she runs straight into the knife of the second killer: Jill. Jill tells Sidney she grew up in her shadow and wants the fame Sidney got for surviving. Charlie wants to be the Randy of the new version. Their plan pins everything on Trevor, who is tied up in a closet. Jill shoots him in the groin and then the head. When Charlie asks her to stab him in the shoulder so they can be the two survivors, she stabs him in the heart instead, because a sole survivor gets more fans. She stabs Sidney again, then hurts herself on purpose: she scratches her face with Trevor's hand, pulls out her own hair, drives the knife into her shoulder, runs into a glass frame and falls through a glass table.

At the hospital Jill is called a hero until Dewey mentions that Sidney survived surgery. Jill slips into Sidney's room and tries to finish her. Dewey and Gale realize Jill knew about Gale's shoulder wound, which was never made public. Jill knocks Dewey out with a bedpan, takes his gun and shoots Judy, who is saved by a bulletproof vest. Gale stalls, says "Clear," and Sidney puts the defibrillator paddles to Jill's head, telling her she forgot the first rule of remakes: don't mess with the original. Jill gets up one last time with a shard of glass and Sidney shoots her in the chest. Outside, reporters are still calling Jill a hero.

Story notes

• The rules: The unexpected is the new cliché.
• The rules: Don't fuck with the original.
• The rules: The first victim now has a group of friends, and the virgin can die.
• Survivors: Sidney Prescott · Gale Weathers · Dewey Riley · Kirby Reed · Judy Hicks

Release facts

• Status: Released. World Premiere April 11, 2011 at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles.
• Rated: R for strong bloody violence, language and some teen drinking
• Worldwide: $95,989,590 per The Numbers; about $97 million per Box Office Mojo

Scream 4 premiered at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles on April 11, 2011 and opened in the US on April 15, 2011 in 3,305 theaters on about 4,400 screens. It made over $1 million from midnight shows and $8.7 million on Friday. Most reports give a $19.3 million opening weekend; The Numbers lists $18,692,090. It finished second behind Rio, and trade reports called the opening disappointing. It dropped to fifth in its second weekend with $7 million ($7.8 million over the four-day Easter weekend) and made $2.2 million in its third.

Overseas it took $37.3 million from 30 territories in its first weekend, second only to Rio. It was number one in the United Kingdom with over £2 million, second in France, third in Mexico and fourth in Australia. The Numbers puts the final gross at $38,180,928 domestic and $57,808,662 international for $95,989,590 worldwide on a $40 million budget. It is the lowest-grossing Scream film.

Reviews were mixed. Rotten Tomatoes has 61% from 190 reviews with an average of 5.8/10, and its consensus says the franchise is showing its age but the film is an improvement over its predecessor. Metacritic gives 52 from 32 critics. CinemaScore audiences gave it a B-minus.

Roger Ebert gave it two out of four stars, faulting the formula but praising Craven's direction and Williamson's dialogue. Empire gave it two out of five. The New York Daily News called it dated. The Toronto Sun said it was nowhere near the original but praised Craven. Colin Covert of the Minneapolis Star Tribune gave it four out of four. The Boston Herald called it often amusing but too long. Lisa Kennedy of the Denver Post said it was a cut above most slashers. Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly and Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times were positive. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave it two out of four.

The film has been reappraised since, and it is often credited with seeing early how social media and the hunger for internet fame would affect teenagers.

Awards: nominated for Choice Movie: Horror/Thriller at the 2011 Teen Choice Awards, losing to Paranormal Activity 2. At the Virgin Media Movie Awards on March 2, 2012 it won Best Horror Movie and Ghostface placed third for Best Villain.

Scores

Cast

Crew

Production

The Weinstein Company announced a fourth film in July 2008. Wes Craven said at the time he would not mind directing if the script was as good as the first film's. Kevin Williamson confirmed in January 2010 that he was writing it during the hiatus of his TV show The Vampire Diaries, and that he was contracted for a fifth film too. Craven was officially confirmed as director in March 2010. Williamson wanted this to open a new trilogy. Williamson recalled pitching the opening to Craven over dinner; Craven reassured him that they would make the movie before asking him to continue the story.

In May 2010 Cathy Konrad, who produced the first three films, filed a $3 million lawsuit against The Weinstein Company. She said her company, Cat Entertainment, had first rights to produce every film in the series and that she had been pushed out so the film could be made cheaper with a different producer. Craven's wife Iya Labunka produced instead. The case settled out of court in April 2011. The terms were kept confidential, but she was reported to get a cash payment and a share of the film's profits.

Craven said no real Ghostface murders happened in the decade between Scream 3 and Scream 4, only more Stab sequels, and that the targets of the satire were endless sequels, remakes, studios and directors. Williamson said he wanted the audience to care about the characters more than the next kill, and compared that to the Saw films. Early drafts had Gale and Dewey with a baby, which was dropped because it would make shooting impossible. Another draft opened with Sidney attacked and left for dead, followed by a two-year gap while she recovered; Bob Weinstein worried it would slow the story down. The Stab-a-thon and Gale's attack there were not in the original script. The hospital finale was a later addition too. The original script ended at Kirby's house with Jill being loaded into an ambulance and posing for one photo, while a paramedic yells that they have a woman alive inside.

Ehren Kruger, who wrote Scream 3, was brought in during production for rewrites, and Paul Harris Boardman did more. Williamson kept sole writing credit. Williamson recalled returning to work directly with Craven on the hospital ending. Craven said there was a bumpy period when things shifted from Kevin to Ehren, but that it was still Kevin's script, concept, characters and themes. Iya Labunka recalled Craven shooting for three days and rewriting through both nights without sleep, then spending the weekend recovering. Assistant director Nick Mastandrea recalled planning the shoot about a week at a time because he never had a complete script to schedule. The script reportedly ran 140 pages, and actors were not given anything past page 75 to protect the killers' identities. The Scream Wiki says the cast was told to stop reading at page 75 at a table read on June 25, 2010. Maddalena remembered Williamson, Kruger and Craven working on competing drafts without initially knowing about one another. Williamson recalled learning about the other pages through a phone call from Craven while he was working in Atlanta. Knudsen remembered returning superseded script revisions to be shredded, with a chart used to track which copies had come back.

Variety reported in September 2009 that Neve Campbell, David Arquette and Courteney Cox would return. Liev Schreiber said there were no plans to bring back Cotton Weary. Williamson shot down rumors that Jamie Kennedy would return as Randy, telling FEARnet he just would not do it because it would make Scream 2 a lie. Hayden Panettiere and Rory Culkin signed in May 2010. Ashley Greene was offered Jill before Emma Roberts got it, and the Scream Wiki says Selena Gomez was considered. Lake Bell was set as Deputy Judy Hicks and left four days before filming over a scheduling conflict; Marley Shelton replaced her. Lauren Graham was cast as Kate and left a few days into shooting; Mary McDonnell replaced her. The Scream Wiki says Rutina Wesley was set to play a deputy named Marcie Perkins before budget cuts turned the part into Anthony Anderson's Anthony Perkins. The Hollywood Reporter reported that Anna Paquin and Kristen Bell had cameos in the opening. Kristen Stewart turned down the opening cameo because she did not think she could live up to Drew Barrymore. Aimee Teegarden and Britt Robertson were cast as Jenny and Marnie in September 2010. Knudsen recorded Robbie's audition in his parents' Toronto basement with a curtain backdrop and his girlfriend helping. He recalled sending a second version after feedback and leaving for Michigan roughly two weeks after getting the part. Shelton had previously auditioned for Tatum in the first film. She remembered reading for Judy on her birthday, then receiving the offer months later while in Budapest and being asked to reach Ann Arbor in four days. Nayor remembered Gabrielle Union among the actresses seen for Rebecca, and credited Brie's humor with winning the role. Casting Hoss and Perkins required mixing and matching actors until the pair's chemistry worked.

Principal photography was pushed from May to June 28, 2010. It was scheduled as a 42-day shoot ending September 6 and wrapped September 24. Filming was in and around Ann Arbor, Michigan. In April 2010 Craven found the Next Chapter Bookstore Bistro in Northville before it had opened, liked the building and the name, and used both. He also hired the owner's chef to make the food for the scene. The bookstore scenes were shot the first week of July. The Scream Wiki says Craven approved all cuts and that about three hours of footage was trimmed.

After a test screening in January 2011, Craven and Bob Weinstein felt some scenes did not play. Aimee Teegarden and Alison Brie went back to the Detroit area in late January and early February 2011 for four days of additional shooting on Jenny's stalking at home and Rebecca's parking garage attack. Roger L. Jackson recalled returning from the winter parking-garage reshoots in the early morning and seeing Craven outside the hotel photographing birds in the snow.

Wes Craven's final film. Shot across Michigan (Ann Arbor, Dearborn, Northville and Plymouth) through summer 2010, with reshoots in late January and early February 2011. Williamson left mid-production and Ehren Kruger rewrote; the opening sequence alone went through several versions. The release date was chosen to fall on the fifteenth anniversary of the first day of shooting on the original.

June 28 to September 24, 2010, overrunning a scheduled 42-day shoot that was to have ended September 6. Shot in Michigan: primarily Ann Arbor; Woodworth Middle School in Dearborn for Woodsboro High; the 16th District Court in Livonia for the police station; the Next Chapter Bookstore Bistro in Northville during the first week of July. After January 2011 test screenings, Aimee Teegarden and Alison Brie returned to Detroit in late January/early February 2011 for four days of reshoots covering the home stalking and parking garage attack sequences.

Ashley Greene was offered Jill Roberts; the part went to Emma Roberts. Lake Bell was cast as Deputy Judy Hicks and dropped out four days before filming over a scheduling conflict, replaced by Marley Shelton. Lauren Graham was cast as Kate Roberts and dropped out a few days into principal photography, replaced by Mary McDonnell. Kristen Stewart turned down a cameo, saying she could not emulate Drew Barrymore. Liev Schreiber had no plans to return as Cotton Weary. Jamie Kennedy did not return; Williamson's line was "I just won't do it." Actors were given only the first 75 pages of a 140-page script to protect the killers' identities. Tortorella estimated going through 17 audition and meeting sessions across Los Angeles and New York, then recalled nearly losing Trevor after announcing the casting on Twitter before the official release.

Williamson never appeared on set because of The Vampire Diaries. Bob Weinstein brought in Ehren Kruger for rewrites during production. Craven's public account, to Bloody Disgusting: "I frankly, and I say this in absolute honesty, have never heard Kevin say [he was upset]," and "the whole idea, all the characters, all the basic situations and scenes, were [written] by Kevin before he left." He also acknowledged "there was a bumpy period when things shifted over from Kevin to Ehren," and that "Bob kept ultimate control of the script, and he had much more contact with Ehren Kruger, but then they were close friends." In his later account, Williamson said the competing drafts prompted him to negotiate an exit from his Dimension deal and surrender contractual first-refusal rights. He nevertheless continued helping when Craven called, including on the hospital ending.

Anthony Anderson's death, stabbed through the forehead, walking a few steps, then dropping, was not in the script. Craven based it on a real medical emergency he had seen in a documentary and did not tell the studio in advance, joking that he hoped he would not be fired. This was the first film in the franchise to use CGI extensively; the collapsing knife blade, for example, was added in post.

Principal photography 28 June to 24 September 2010, entirely in Michigan.

LocationAddress · Scene

Jill Roberts' house1005 Lincoln Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI (built 1901) · The Roberts home; Sidney's stay; the murders

Olivia Morris' house1007 Lincoln Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI (built 1912) · Olivia's death, next door

Next Chapter Bookstore & Bistro141 East Main Street, Northville, MI · Sidney's Out of Darkness signing

"Woodsboro High School"Woodworth Middle School, 4951 Ternes Street at Hubbard Drive, Dearborn, MI · All school scenes

Police stationFormer 16th District Court building, Livonia, MI , although set-jetter places it at a facade on the empty lot between 729 to 777 West Ann Arbor Trail · Woodsboro Sheriff's Department

Gale and Dewey's house537 West Dunlap Street, Northville, MI · The Riley home

Stab-a-thon barn9980 Saline Waterworks Road, Saline/Manchester, MI · Charlie Walker's Stab-a-thon

Kirby Reed's house ("329 Whispering Lane")19223 Clement Road, Northville, MI · After-party; the main climax

Hospital3890 John R Street, Detroit, MI · Final act

Downtown WoodsboroCorner of West Ann Arbor Trail and South Main Street, Ann Arbor, MI · Removing Ghostface masks from lampposts

Note: globalfilmlocations.net reverses the Jill/Olivia house numbers. Two independent sources (movie-locations.com, set-jetter) give 1005 = Jill, 1007 = Olivia.

Stab 1 to 3 are based on the real murders; Stab 4 onward are not. Sidney sued the studio to disassociate herself after the Stab 3 production murders, which is why Stab 4 is the first not centred on her. It is described in-universe as "apparently pretty good."

Stab 4: Knife of Doom and Stab 5: Clock of Doom were developed as a second trilogy by Sunrise Studios. (titles from the Scream Wiki)

Stab 5 introduced time travel and is repeatedly called the point where the franchise "went off the rails". Jenny Randall calls it the worst of the series.

Stab 6: Ghostface Returns opens with schoolgirls Sherrie (Lucy Hale) and Trudie (Shenae Grimes) being killed; Trudie complains about torture-porn trends while being murdered.

Stab 7 opens with Rachel (Anna Paquin) and Chloe (Kristen Bell) watching Stab 6 and complaining about recycled sequels, before Chloe kills Rachel. Its conceit is that the previous six films exist inside its own universe, and it features two killers.

The Stab-a-thon is an annual Woodsboro fan event, held in a barn, with an all-night marathon and a drinking game. A dummy of Tatum Riley in the garage door is on display. A Stab 3 poster hangs in the school's Cinema Club room. Rory Culkin remembered the barn shoot as fun for the actors but difficult for the crew, who had to move equipment through mud. He said Sarah Scrivener later told him those barn shooting days had been especially rough for the crew. For an arrival shot he believed was later cut, Knudsen recalled getting a brief manual-transmission lesson before driving Culkin up to the barn and stopping near the camera. Tortorella recalled performing the Stab-a-thon scenes with a painful back injury, trying to conceal it by limiting Trevor's movement.

Charlie Walker and Jill Roberts' motive is explicitly to generate the source material for a new Stabthe "remake" logic.

Carly Feingold built a continuity binder from the first three finished films. She deliberately left out unused script material so abandoned ideas would not be confused with events shown on screen. The binder also tracked the Stab references and helped the production name the additional sequels. Edgar Wright recalled asking to see the pages before approving the Shaun of the Dead clip, then being delighted to see his film and hear its title in the finished sequence. He placed the cameo in the playful chain of references between Craven and Sam Raimi's horror films.

The writing-credit arbitration involved drafts from eight writers, according to Williamson. He received sole writing credit. Labunka recalled that Craven was offered a credit for his extensive rewrites and declined it.

Feingold also helped adapt pages during shooting when locations and the schedule changed. She drew on Williamson's earlier drafts to preserve his dialogue and tone, including revisions to the Stab-a-thon material for the chosen location.

Acting coach John Kirby was available on set to run new dialogue with the cast when revised pages arrived. Culkin recalled using him to try ideas and prepare the changing lines. Panettiere said Craven coached her to draw out the walk to the closet in Jill’s bedroom, letting the relief at finding it empty precede the realization that Olivia was being attacked next door. Culkin and Panettiere had known each other since childhood. Culkin said his childhood crush on her informed Charlie’s hurt at Kirby rejecting him. Panettiere recalled delivering Kirby's long list of horror titles in the first take and receiving Craven's enthusiastic praise, which eased her anxiety about getting the sequence right. Jackson recalled improvising one of Ghostface's threats to Sidney and getting a startled response from Campbell after the take, continuing the practice of using unexpected lines to provoke a fresh reaction.

Roberts’s reading for Jill took place privately at Craven’s Los Angeles house while he was in Michigan for pre-production. Nayor set up a camera and monitor so Craven could watch live and give direction remotely. Culkin nearly missed the film after skipping his first audition; his manager persuaded him to reschedule. He later read a script with the opening and ending removed at The Weinstein Company offices, where Weinstein told him Charlie was a killer.

Knudsen recalled that some of the shorter actors stood on apple boxes for shots intended to keep differences in height from giving away who could be under the Ghostface costume. He and Roberts were among the actors he identified.

Filming locations

• 1005 Lincoln Avenue, Ann Arbor, Michigan: Jill and Kate Roberts' house, where Sidney stays
• 1007 Lincoln Avenue, Ann Arbor, Michigan: Olivia Morris' house next door
• Next Chapter Bookstore Bistro, 141 East Main Street, Northville, Michigan: The Woodsboro bookstore where Sidney signs Out of Darkness
• Woodworth Middle School, 4951 Ternes Street, Dearborn, Michigan: Woodsboro High School
• Former 16th District Court building, Livonia, Michigan: Woodsboro police station
• 9980 Saline Waterworks Road, Saline, Michigan: The barn where Charlie and Robbie hold the Stab-a-thon
• 19223 Clement Road, Northville, Michigan: Kirby Reed's house, the after-party and the killers' reveal
• Kellogg Park, Plymouth, Michigan: Filming in July 2010, per a set photo on Wikipedia

Effects and makeup

This was the first Scream film to use a lot of computer effects. Instead of practical collapsing knives, the blades were added in post-production with CGI. The Scream Wiki says Craven wanted to get away from rubber, cardboard and collapsible prop knives.

Anthony Anderson's death, where Perkins is stabbed through the forehead and keeps talking and walking before he falls, was not in the script. Craven based it on a real case he saw in a documentary about a man stabbed through the head who walked into an emergency room. He did not warn the studio and joked that he hoped he would not be fired the next day.

Gary J. Tunnicliffe is credited as prosthetic designer and Peter Robb-King ran the makeup department. The Scream Wiki says Jill's self-inflicted injuries, cutting her face, throwing herself into a glass picture frame and falling onto the glass table, were performed by Emma Roberts' stunt double Allison Caetano.

Olivia's blood-covered bedroom was filmed in a real Ann Arbor house. The blood was practical, and multiple cameras covered the main shot because resetting the room after the splatter would have been difficult.

Props and costumes

Debra McGuire designed the costumes. Sidney's blue outfit in the climax closely resembles her blue jacket and top from the 1996 film, per the Scream Wiki.

Trevor's outfit in the final act matches what Neil Prescott wore in the final act of Scream, and he is tied and gagged the same way, per the Scream Wiki.

A bust of Henry Winkler's Principal Himbry is visible in the school hallway about eighteen minutes in.

The Stab-a-thon set includes a dummy of Tatum stuck in the garage pet door, and partygoers dressed as Dewey, Gale and Casey.

A copy of Sidney's book Out of Darkness sits on Dewey's bedside table about twelve minutes in.

The cinema club room is dressed with horror posters, including Wes Craven's The People Under the Stairs and The Hills Have Eyes.

The Scream 4 Deluxe (thicker, more solid PVC with a pearlescent finish and a new "Dwarf" hood) plus the thinner TD "Walgreens" mould used for the 2011 reshoots. The two are visibly different on screen: the TD has a thinner, longer, more downturned mouth and a higher chin cutoff.

Robbie’s streaming headset was worked out with Knudsen during prop fittings. The team settled on a webcam attached to headphones, which could be turned around for the character’s recording tricks. The lopsided attachment restricted how quickly Knudsen could move his head.

The art department lent Culkin a Ghostface costume and prop knives to practice with in his hotel room. Craven helped him approach Charlie’s masked attacks as a role the character stepped into; Culkin described his own interpretation as more uncertain and remorseful than earlier killers. Craven suggested thinking of the mask as a soldier’s uniform, something Charlie could use to distance himself from what he was doing. Culkin also looked to Stu’s panic about his parents in Scream as a reminder that the killers were still teenagers. Culkin also trained with weights and boxing during the shoot. Knudsen remembered that the extra training made the other actors suspect Charlie had a substantial role in the finale.

The killers

Deaths

Marco Beltrami composed the score, his fourth Scream film in a row. He did not score the next two films; Brian Tyler replaced him. Beltrami recalled returning because Craven asked him, but having less direct contact with the director and dealing mainly with studio representatives over the music.

Scream 4: Music from the Dimension Motion Picture (score), Varèse Sarabande, April 19, 2011. Wikipedia's track listing gives 21 cues running 61:42, starting with "You're Not Real" and ending with "Sid's Advice" (the album infobox on the same page says 46:30). A complete version with extra cues and demos came out January 7, 2022 in a limited box set of Beltrami's four Scream scores from Varèse Sarabande.

Scream 4: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (songs), Lakeshore Records, April 12, 2011, produced by Buck Sanders and Richard Glasser, 35:51. It did not sell like the earlier Scream song albums.

Song album track list: "Something to Die For" by The Sounds; "Bad Karma" by Ida Maria; "Cup of Coffee" by The Novocaines; "Make My Body" by The Chain Gang of 1974; "Don't Mess with the Original" by Marco Beltrami; "Yeah Yeah Yeah" by The Sounds; "Run for Your Life" by 6 Day Riot; "Axel F" by Raney Shockne; "On Fire" by Locksley; "Devils" by Say Hi; "Denial" by Stereo Black; "Jill's America" by Marco Beltrami.

Liza Richardson was music supervisor. John Paesano, Brandon Roberts, Dennis Smith and Marcus Trumpp are credited with additional music.

The filmmakers tried to bring back “Red Right Hand,” but the licensing agreement could not be reached within Dimension's budget. The song was left out of Scream 4. Gerrard recalled advising Cave during the negotiations despite no longer being the film's music supervisor. He argued that the song had become part of the franchise's identity; Cave declined the eventual offer, while Labunka described the budget refusal as firm despite their attempts to make the deal work.

• Songs album released April 12, 2011 on Lakeshore Records, 12 rock tracks, including The Sounds' "Something to Die For" and Ida Maria's "Bad Karma," and it did not perform as well as previous franchise soundtracks. Beltrami's score was released April 19, 2011 on Varèse Sarabande, 21 tracks running 61:42; a complete edition followed on January 7, 2022 as part of a limited box set with 40 tracks running 76:42, adding cues, demos and rejected material. This was Beltrami's last Scream score before Brian Tyler took over.

Home Media

• DVD and Blu-ray, Mexico, August 5, 2011.
• DVD and Blu-ray, United Kingdom and Ireland, August 22, 2011.
• Blu-ray/DVD combo pack ($39.99 list, with a digital copy) and DVD ($29.98 list), US and Canada, October 4, 2011, from Anchor Bay Entertainment and Dimension Films. Extras: The Making of Scream 4; alternate opening; extended ending; deleted and extended scenes; gag reel.
• DVD and Blu-ray, Australia and New Zealand, October 13, 2011.
• It entered the US rental chart at number two and stayed in the top twenty for seven straight weeks. The Numbers estimates US home video sales at $10,358,329 ($6,659,589 DVD, $3,698,740 Blu-ray).
• To promote the disc, Universal Studios Hollywood ran a Terror Tram: SCRE4M For Your Life attraction at Halloween Horror Nights in September and October 2011.
• Television premiere on Showtime, April 20, 2012. Showtime also used it during a free preview weekend that reached over 80 million homes. Added to Netflix streaming April 19, 2013.
• 4K Ultra HD, June 9, 2026, from Lionsgate, which controls the film through its 20% stake in Spyglass Media Group. Released as a standard 4K Ultra HD and as a Lionsgate Limited 4K SteelBook with art by gnah studios. Two discs (4K on a BD100 plus a Blu-ray), 2.39:1, Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. SteelBook-exclusive new features: The Meta of Scream; Rebooting the Franchise: Scream 4 Revisited; Ghostface Revealed!; Wes Craven: The Maestro of Scream. Legacy features: commentary with Craven, Emma Roberts, Hayden Panettiere and Neve Campbell; deleted and extended scenes with optional commentary; alternate opening; extended ending; gag reel; EPK B-roll and soundbites; junket interviews; trailers; TV spot.
• Limited edition VHS, released alongside the 2026 4K as a 15th anniversary item, sold through Lionsgate Limited.

• NECA Cult Classics Scream 4 Ghost Face action figure, about 7 inches, with the classic mask and a buck knife, 2011.
• Fun World Scream 4 Ghost Face 20-inch hanging Halloween figure, 2011.
• Scream 4: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack CD, Lakeshore Records, 2011.
• Scream 4 score CD, Varèse Sarabande, 2011; expanded in the Scream original soundtracks box set, Varèse Sarabande, 2022.
• Lionsgate Limited 4K SteelBook and limited VHS, 2026.

Where to watch

Trailers and videos

Scream 4, Official Teaser Trailer

Dimension Films

The first teaser, from the studio's own channel.

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Scream 4, Official Trailer

Dimension Films

The full trailer in high definition from the studio channel.

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Scream 4, Official Trailer

Movie Trailers

The main theatrical trailer.

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Trailer Cutdown

Dimension Films

A shortened version of the trailer.

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Official Trailer

Trailer World

Another copy of the official trailer.

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Behind the Scenes of Scream 4

FilmIsNow Epic Movie Zone

On set footage of Wes Craven and the cast making the film.

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Film Fan to Ghost Face Victim

The Film Scene

A featurette about the new generation of characters.

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Gag Reel

Nostalgia Remastered

SPOILERS

The blooper reel from the home video release, cleaned up.

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Emma Roberts Interview

EmmaRobertsDaily

A press interview with Emma Roberts about her part.

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Cast Interviews

DaveWeLike

Junket interviews with Emma Roberts, Hayden Panettiere, Anthony Anderson and Rory Culkin.

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Opening Scene

JoBlo Movie Clips

SPOILERS

The film's layered opening murder sequence.

Gallery

Posters & Key Art

Film Stills

Behind the Scenes

Press & Promo

Props