It’s hard to believe that horror fans are just a couple of weeks away from the release ofScream VI. The highly anticipated slasher sequel directed once again byMatt Bettinelli-OlpinandTyler Gillettwill see a much more brutal and scarier Ghostface killing their way through New York City when the film hits theaters in early March. However, the one thing mostScreamfans can’t stop talking about since the film’s trailer was released last month is Ghostface wielding a shotgun. You either love or hate it, but now Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett have opened up about why they made that bloodthirsty choice.
Ghostface With a Gun Is a Game Changer
When talking withSFX MagazineviaDigital SpyBettinelli-Olpin defended the move saying, “We don’t want it to be safe. We don’t want it to be boring. We want it to be fun and to raise eyebrows.” He continued on explaining, “When we heard ‘Ghostface in New York, and he has a shotgun’ it was like: ‘What?!’ The two feelings of ‘What are we doing?’ and ‘We have to do it!’ are often intrinsically tied and that was a perfect example of that.” Gillett would add, “There are a ton of fun, wonderful, classic Ghostface moments, but it’s not the pratfalling Ghostface.” The directing duo would finish off by saying:
“We love that, but for this to be scary and to achieve a level of visceral tension, we wanted to put the character more in the real world. If Ghostface is trying to get through a door, it’s going to happen! There’s no giving up. When he’s in pursuit, the pursuit doesn’t end until he’s achieved his goal.”
Screamas a franchise has had a complicated history with guns. It was one of the many horror series that at the time of its inception, likeFriday the 13th,Halloween, andNightmare on Elm Street, was battling the dreaded MPAA over the way the film depicted its violence on screen. The tragic Columbine school shooting in 1999 also affected the gore inScream 3which came out a year later in 2000. However, even with all that,Screamas a franchise has been one of the more violent among its mainstream slasher peers.
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While many fans were shocked to see Ghostface kill a convenience store worker with his own shotgun, there’s actually a precedent for this iconic killer using a gun throughout the series. Almost every killer, whether it be Billy Loomis, Stu Macher, Jill Roberts, or Richie Kirsch, has used or pointed a gun at somebody in their respective films. Even the most shocking death inScream(2022) had Amber kill Liv by shooting her in the head. The only difference inScream VIis that this is the first time we’re seeing Ghostface use a gun in costume—we generally associate this masked killer with a knife.
Scream VIPlot & Release Date
Scream VIis releasing in theaters on August 27, 2025, and will see the return of sisters Sam (Melissa Barrera) and Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega) a short time after the events ofScream 2022in NYC. Tara’s now in college with her friends Chad (Mason Gooding) and Mindy Meeks-Martin (Jasmin Savoy Brown) who also survived the dreaded blade of Ghostface in the last film. However, when the killings start again and Ghostface returns deadlier than ever, the group of Woodsboro survivors, including the return of Gale (Courtney Cox) and Kirby (Hayden Panettiere), are thrown back down a blood-soaked rabbit hole.
As Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett teased,Scream VIis going to be the most surprising, brutal, and risky film in the franchise to date—that includes Ghostface wielding a shotgun. While horror fans anxiously wait forScream VI’s release, you can watch the trailer down below.
