It was announced earlier this week that the filmmakers behind the recent and very successful return of Scream, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, are working next on an untitled Universal Monsters movie. Hot off the presses of that exciting news, it sounds like they’ll be bringing along a Scream star for their next feature as well.
Melissa Barrera, who has led the fifth and sixth Scream entries, is reportedly involved in this upcoming horror movie as well, per Deadline. The casting development could also mean the Universal movie is far along in the pre-production process and getting ready to film.
As for what this Universal Monsters movie will be about, no details have been revealed. With Melissa Barrera being placed at the front of casting, our best guess is a new take on The Bride of Frankenstein. The mysterious movie’s script has been written by Stephen Shields and Guy Busick, the latter of whom has worked with Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett on both Scream movies, along with their 2019 horror comedy Ready or Not.
The Universal Monsters project has apparently been in the works since the Scream directors got done with the 2022 installment; however, they were asked to prioritized Scream VI first. Now that their latest movie has come out, they are shifting focus back to this untitled project. However, they did recently share a “hope” for the Scream franchise to continue past the latest appearance of Ghostface.
Barrera got her start in Mexican television, but has found the most high-profile roles of her career working on the most recent Scream films as Sam Carpenter, the daughter of one of the original Ghostface killers, Billy Loomis. Barrera also notably starred in the 2021 big-screen musical adaptation of In The Heights. Now that she has been recruited by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett of Radio Silence Productions, Barrera has another thrilling acting project in her hands.
Before Radio Silence got their hands on Scream, the horror series had not seen a new big-screen iteration since 2011’s Scream 4 and following the death of franchise director Wes Craven in 2015. Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett have successfully revived it with last year’s release of Scream and last month’s Scream VI, which just had the franchise’s best opening weekend yet. Both movies have also impressed critics and fans alike.
While a decade ago, Universal was attempting to build out the interconnected Dark Universe based on famed movie monsters with titles like The Mummy and Dracula Untold, the studio has since scrapped those plans and has been making standalone films based on the various properties. In early 2020, Universal found success with Leigh Whannell’s fresh take on The Invisible Man, and this weekend, there’s a fresh take on Dracula with the Nicolas Cage-led Renfield.
We look forward to learning more about Radio Silence’s Universal Monsters movie as it continues to be developed at the studio. In the meantime, you can check out Renfield, in theaters this Friday.
