Scream VI director tells how film debunks popular fan theory

a scene from Panic VIwould have been written entirely to debunk a popular theory among fans of the franchise. It deals with the death of Ethan (Jack Champion), one of the killers in the sixth film, who is a direct reference to the death of Stu Macher (Matthew Lillard), one of the two original assassins from the first Panic(1996).

One of the most popular characters in the franchise, Stu has his end caused by the protagonist Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), who drops a huge TV tube (very popular in the 1990s, by the way) over his head at the end of the first film. Since then, however, many fans have wondered whether the television crash would be enough to kill the killer – especially by the bloody standards of Panic.

The theory that Stu would have survived the fall gained momentum with the revelation that one of the proposals of Scream 3(1999) involved the return of the killer. Matthew Lillard was even hired to act in the sequel, but later had the role dropped due to script changes.

With the arrival of the new film and its countless references to the franchise’s past, Ethan, one of the new assassins, meets his end caused by the very same TV set. Tyler Gillettco-director of Panic VIadmitted to Varietythat the scene was specifically written to prove that Stu could have died in the first film.

“Let’s talk about Stu and TV. There was a conspiracy that Stu was alive. [A cena em que] Kirby pushes the TV on Ethan to prove that the same TV killed Stu?” asked Variety, to which Gillet confirmed: “Yes.”

“[A cena] it was written, specifically, as a brutal and final death,” said the director.

Asked in the same interview if Stu could make an appearance in the future of the franchise, the producer William Sherak left the question open: “anything is possible”.