Scream 3 (2000)

Scream 3 is a 2000 American slasher film and the third installment in the Scream franchise. Directed by Wes Craven and written by Ehren Kruger, the film stars Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, and David Arquette, and was released on February 4, 2000. The story is set three years after Scream 2 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 after a new Ghostface begins killing the cast of the film within a film "Stab 3". Scream 3 combines the violence of the slasher genre with comedy and "whodunit" mystery, while satirizing the cliché of film trilogies. Unlike the previous Scream films, there was an increased emphasis on comedic elements in this installment, and the violence and horror were reduced in response to increased public scrutiny about violence in media, following the Columbine High School massacre. The film was the concluding chapter of the Scream series until the franchise was revived with a sequel, Scream 4 (2011).

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 Ehren Kruger, who discarded many of Williamson's notes. Craven and Marco Beltrami returned to direct and score the film, respectively, as they had the previous two series installments. Production was troubled with script rewrites, occasions when pages were only ready on the day of filming, and scheduling difficulties with the main cast.

Scream 3 performed critically worse than both its preceding films but was a commercial success, earning over $161 million, with many critics claiming that the film had become precisely what Scream originally spoofed. Despite negative criticism, the film did receive praise with reviewers, who called it the perfect end to the Scream trilogy. As of 2012, the film was the third highest-grossing slasher-film in North America, following Scream at number 1 and Scream 2 at number 2. The film's soundtrack was well-received; it spent 14 weeks on the Billboard 200 and reached a high of #32.

Synopsis

Cotton Weary, now living in Los Angeles and the host of a nationally syndicated television show, 100% Cotton, is called by Ghostface, who demands the whereabouts of Sidney Prescott, who has gone into hiding ever since the events of the second film. Cotton refuses to divulge that information, and when Ghostface comes to his home, both Cotton and his girlfriend Christine are murdered.

Actors