Scream Director Teases Sam’s Mom’s Identity

In a recent interview, Scream co-director Matt Bettinelli-Olpin opens up about the mysterious mother of Melissa Barrera’s Sam, teasing her identity.

In a recent interview, Scream co-director Matt Bettinelli-Olpin opened up about the mysterious mother of Melissa Barrera’s Sam, teasing her identity. Barrera starred alongside fellow newcomers Mason Gooding, Mikey Madison, Jack Quaid, Jasmin Savoy-Br0wn, Jenna Ortega, and Dylan Minette. Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett’s film also saw the return of Neve Campbell, David Arquette, and Courteney Cox to reprise their roles from the original franchise.

Taking place 25 years after the original Woodsboro massacre featured in the original 1996 movie, Scream (2022) sees Sam Carpenter return to the town after her sister Tara (Ortega) is attacked and hospitalized by a new Ghostface killer. Sam had left Woodsboro due to discovering that she was in fact the daughter of the original Ghostface killer, Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich), a revelation which caused her parents to separate and for her to distance herself from her family. Sam is haunted by hallucinations of Billy throughout the film, with Ulrich returning in secret to film his scenes. While Sam’s parentage was a well-kept surprise for fans, the identity of her birth mother was never revealed.

Speaking to Nerdist alongside fellow Radio Silence filmmakers Gillett and Chad Villella, Bettinelli-Olpin revealed that they had already put consideration into the mother’s identity. Despite not appearing in the film itself, Bettinelli-Olpin did confirm that the mother was featured in the script but didn’t make it into the final cut of the film. The director explained that they chose to do this as they felt it could take focus away from the sisters’ story. However, Bettinelli-Olpin did leave the opportunity to explore it in the future open-ended, as while he didn’t confirm anything, he suggested it could be an interesting story. Check out Bettinelli-Olpin’s full response below:

“She was definitely in the script. But it just never made the cut. It felt like we were kind of opening the movie up too much and making it not as much about the sisters… It’s hard to say, but it sounds like there’s an interesting story there…”

With Ulrich sharing photos of him and Barrera on-set shortly after the film’s release, Carpenter is the latest way Billy has continued to affect the franchise. Beyond the Woodsboro murders becoming the inspiration for Scream‘s in-universe “Stab” slasher franchise, the Loomis family remain present in the franchise long after Billy’s death at Sidney’s (Campbell) hands in 1996. Scream 2 saw one of that film’s Ghostface killers revealed to be Mrs. Loomis (Played by Laurie Metcalf) target Sidney in order to avenge her son’s death. Ultimately, Sidney, Cotton Weary (Liev Schreiber), and Gale Weathers (Cox) defeat Loomis and her co-killer Mickey (played by Timothy Olyphant), with Sidney shooting Mrs. Loomis twice to be sure.

With Ulrich’s surprise return and Sam’s parentage surprising audiences, fans are curious to see what the franchise has in store for this unique survivor of the Ghostface killer. Barrera is already anticipating a possible return should Scream 6 ever be greenlit, and with Campbell also open to returning, it would be an interesting story to tackle, much like Bettinelli-Oplin suggested. Sam has come to terms with her parentage, but where do these revelations leave her with the rest of the cast beyond Scream, and how can she bring the Loomis family’s legacy into a new light?