Courteney Cox is returning for the next “Scream” as her famed dogged news reporter character Gale Weathers, we can tell you first.
The “Friends” alum joins previously announced “Scream” castmember David Arquette who is also coming back as Dewey Riley. Cameras will roll on the Spyglass Media Group-Paramount Production in Wilmington, North Carolina.
The next “Scream” is being directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett of the filmmaking group Radio Silence (“Ready or Not,” “V/H/S”) from a screenplay by James Vanderbilt (“Murder Mystery,” “Amazing Spider-Man”) and Guy Busick (“Ready or Not,” “Castle Rock”).
Creator Kevin Williamson and the third member of the Radio Silence trio, Chad Villella, are executive producing with Project X Entertainment’s Vanderbilt, Paul Neinstein and William Sherak serving as producers.
Radio Silence tells us, “We can’t imagine ‘Scream’ without the iconic Gale Weathers and are so incredibly thrilled and humbled to have the opportunity to work with Courteney. We’re absolute mega fans of her work and we’re so excited to join her in the next chapter of the ‘Scream’ saga!”
In addition to her iconic role as Monica on “Friends,” which landed Cox a SAG ensemble win, she also starred, executive produced and directed 12 episodes of ABC’s “Cougar Town” Cox. Cox serves as an executive producer and host on Facebook Watch’s documentary series, “9 Months with Courteney Cox” via her Hopper Productions banner and Ample Entertainment, which has been on for two seasons.
The actress, who landed a Golden Globe a Best Actress TV Comedy nomination for her work on “Cougar Town,” will soon be seen in the upcoming horror comedy, “Shining Vale,” for Starz.
The “Scream” franchise through four movies that began in 1996 have grossed over $600M at the global box office. The late Wes Craven directed all four movies. Williamson wrote the original film as well as “Scream 2” and “Scream 4.”
Cox is represented by WME and Brillstein Entertainment Partners.
Back in June, Justin Kroll reported at Variety that Paramount was partnering with Spyglass on the movie for a theatrical release in 2021. Paramount will market and distribute the film worldwide in all media with select offshore markets territories with domestic pay 1 television being handled by Spyglass.
Spyglass launched as a partnership between Gary Barber and Lantern Entertainment. The company has strategic investment backing from Warner Bros. leaders in the motion picture industry; Eagle Pictures, the largest independent distributor in Italy; and Cineworld Group, the second largest theater chain in the world. Spyglass is home to more than 250 film library titles, scripted and unscripted television series, including Oscar winners “The King’s Speech” and “The Artist;” box office hits “The Upside,” “Inglourious Basterds,” “Silver Linings Playbook,” “The Hateful Eight,” “Django Unchained,” “Lee Daniel’s The Butler,” “Spy Kids” and “Paddington;” genre franchises “Hellraiser” and “Scream,” and the television series, “Project Runway.”
Cox also posted this AM on Instagram about the news following Deadline’s break about her return.