Scream Directors Insist That The Trailer Doesn't Spoil The Movie

It's very rare for movies nowadays to remain completely unspoiled prior to their release, especially once trailers begin dropping for them. "Scream" directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett are dying to change that. 

"Spoilers suck," said Bettinelli-Olpin in an interview with Bloody Disgusting following the recent release of the first "Scream" trailer. "This was a hard trailer for [marketing] to put together, and I think one of the things we're happy with is that anything that you might think is a spoiler in this, there's a good chance you're wrong. There are misdirects within the movie. There are misdirects within the trailer. For us, that's just the fun of the whole thing to make this a big whodunnit."

While "Scream" fans can ultimately rest easy knowing that what they see in the new trailer doesn't spoil what will happen in the film, there's still a lot to unpack in it and glimpses of scenes that seem to be important to the movie's overall story. Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett insist, however, that there are some very important things in "Scream" that aren't included in its first trailer.

Speaking to Bloody Disgusting about what they hoped to accomplish with the recent "Scream" trailer, directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett said they wanted it to give fans just a taste of the much larger cinematic meal that is the film itself. Executive producer Chad Villella even described the trailer as being "the tip" of a "very, very deceptive iceberg."

"This is just the first taste. It shows you the heart of the movie without showing you too much of what happens," Villella said. "That's exactly what we're going for; we want people to lean in, but we don't want the movie to be ruined. We want them to enjoy every minute of it and discover what's going on and who's who in the theater."

Of course, not much is actually known right now about the plot of "Scream" or the roles that the franchise's returning characters will play in it. In fact, while its trailer offered a glimpse into what's happening in Woodsboro this time around, many of the film's important details are still shrouded in mystery. "One of the things we love about the original four [films] ... is that there's a level of meta sophistication to what these movies are. They're so aware of what you, as an audience member, are probably aware of going into the experience, so it's the job of the story to flip those expectations upside-down as many times as possible. And it's begun."

The filmmakers' comments, while exciting, also mean that "Scream" fans are going to have to wait until the film is released in theaters on January 14, 2022, to find out exactly what kind of meta, subversive surprises it has in store for them.