Scream VI filmmakers studied Jason Takes Manhattan before making NYC-set slasher sequel

Scream VI breaks new ground for the iconic horror franchise by being set in New York City. There, the four young survivors of Scream (2022), played by Jenna Ortega, Melissa Barrera, Jasmin Savoy Brown, and Mason Gooding, have relocated in the hope of avoiding more interactions with Ghostface.

"This film takes place right on the heels of the last one," says Tyler Gillett, who co-directed Scream VI with Matt Bettinelli-Olpin. "It finds the survivors having moved to New York together to try to deal with, escape, move on from the events of the previous movie. They move to the big city because what kind of bad thing could happen in the city? Surely Ghostface won't show up. And then Ghostface shows up!"

Philippe Bossé/Paramount Pictures; Everett Collection 'Scream VI' and 'Friday the 13th Part VIII'

Scream is not the first horror franchise to have its villain show up in the City That Never Sleeps. As the name implies, 1989's Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan featured a certain Mr. Voorhees visiting Times Square, even if most of the film takes place on a boat headed to NYC rather than the big city itself.

Scream VI executive producer Chad Villella reveals to EW that the new movie's behind-the-scenes team did check out the eighth Friday the 13th film before shooting the sixth Scream in Montreal.

"Oh, we definitely studied it, and we wanted to make sure that we didn't have a boat in this!" says Villella. "We wanted to be in the city, in the lived-in part of New York, that was very important to us. Obviously, being in a city is a scary thing. With Woodsboro, you're able to be isolated very easily, but in a city, you could be surrounded by millions of people and still feel very alone. That's exactly what we wanted to capture with this one."

Scream VI hits theaters March 10.

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