SCREAM 5 will surely have some surprises when it hits theaters on January 14th of 2022.
It used to be a tradition of the first saga to bring famous cameos around, including fan favorites that had previously gotten knife happy… (Hello, Randy Meeks!)
But, since the franchise is under new management, rules could have changed. Or… Not?
If you followed the filming on Twitter, you probably read some fans asking for the return of Hayden Panettiere‘s Kirby Reed – who allegedly had met her maker by the end of SCREAM 4.

People recently noticed that SCREAM 2022‘s directors, Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, followed the actress on Instagram. Is this an actual receipt?

No, but it was enough to lighten up a gunpowder trail of speculation and high hopes for the presence of Kirby Reed in SCREAM 5.

But let’s consider some facts and possibilities:
  • The whole theory of Kirby’s survival was born because Wes Craven had a passion for cliffhangers and miraculous resurrections. Even though some of those characters died or lived in the script, he used to film alternative possibilities to test it with the audiences. Dewey is a pretty example of that, despite Kevin Williamson trying to finish him. Twice. The benefit of the doubt was extended to Panettiere’s character: the last time we saw her, she was agonizing after being bleed with a huge knife and in the feature commentary of SCREAM 4, he teasingly jokes: “As you see, Hayden is still moving. Not saying that she’s coming back… for sure“. But, the same happened with Emma Roberts‘ character. On the same DVD bonus, she says that “Originally I was supposed to get shot in the head… But they shot me in the chest“, to what Wes added “I made a battlefield decision“. Craven pondered the death of Jill Roberts till the last minute: “You did [die], but if you notice in the very last shot, there’s just a microscopic twitch of your face and we took it out optically and I’ve said ‘No, put it back’“.
  • Radio Silence is getting ready to start a new project called REUNION and they might be in the search of a leading lady – and given the fan claiming on social media for her name, this could have sparkled the interest for the actress…
  • Unlike SCREAM 4, SCREAM 5 was filmed mostly on sound stages, away from curious fans and paparazzis that tend to come around when filming in location. And, given the secrecy we have no idea what they have stored for us.
  • Radio Silence could be a sadistic mastermind of suspense… and publicity stunts… Have you watched READY OR NOT? It matches the profile. And it could go both ways: a teasing or a false lead.
  • Hayden played the fans hearts, back in 2019, with this post:

For story development, I’m in favour of killing your darlings, like Rose McGowan said in the SCREAM Reunion. Especially in a scary movie. But, this is Hollywood, and like Gale said to Angelina Tyler in SCREAM 3, we’ll have to “Wait for the fucking movie“!

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