Hayden Panettiere returns to the world of Scream.
Panettiere, who starred in 2011’s “Scream 4,” has struck a deal to reprise her character in the latest installment in the horror franchise from Spyglass Media and Paramount Pictures.
The two companies revived the slasher film series in January with Scream – also the name of the 1996 original that started it all – the fifth installment that proved audiences craved bloody thrills as it sold more than 81 million $140 million domestically and $140 million worldwide.
A sequel was quickly in the works and this week it was announced that Melissa Barrera, Jasmine Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding and Jenna Ortega, who survived their ordeal with the killer known as Ghostface, would return. Principal photography is slated to begin this summer.
In Scream 4, Panettiere played Kirby Reed, a teenager in the fictional and terror-ridden Woodsboro, California, setting of the Scream franchise stories. While Reed was initially a “best friend” type, she eventually rises to hero status, which also leaves her nearly mortally wounded, but now sees a survivor.
Storyline details for the new feature are being kept under wraps, but the companies said the new feature “continues with the four survivors of the Ghostface murders as they leave Woodsboro behind and begin a new chapter.”
The creative team behind the reboot are back for this latest endeavor. James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick return to co-write the screenplay, while Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett of a filmmaking collective called Radio Silence are back as directors.
Vanderbilt, Paul Neinstein and William Sherak of Project X Entertainment are serving as producers. Williamson and fellow Radio Silence member Chad Villella are executive producers alongside Gary Barber and Peter Oillataguerre of Spyglass, Ron Lynch, Cathy Konrad and Marianne Maddalena.
Panettiere had a prominent role as cheerleader Claire Bennett on the NBC superhero series Heroes. The latest scream will mark her first on-screen appearance since she wrapped six seasons with the musical drama Nashville, which ran from 2012 to 2018.
It will be repeated by Mainstay Entertainment.