Scream trailer teases a surprising link to the horror franchise's past

Unlike horror movie characters who say "I'll be right back," the Scream franchise actually will be back this January, and the first trailer for the slasher sequel is here.

Paramount Pictures on Tuesday dropped the trailer for Scream, the fifth installment in the iconic horror series. The footage begins with a scene reminiscent of the original's famous opening, with the Ghostface killer intimidating his victim through text after she won't pick up her landline. From there, a new string of murders leads Neve Campbell's Sidney Prescott, David Arquette's Dewey Riley, and Courteney Cox's Gale Weathers to return to the fray alongside new characters played by stars including In the Heights' Melissa Barrera and The Boys' Jack Quaid. The trailer also teases a surprising link to prior films, with Barrera's character revealing that "the attacks were all on people related to the original killers."

Despite what the title might suggest, then, Scream is actually a sequel rather than a remake, and it's the franchise's first film since 2011's Scream 4. Beginning with the 1996 movie, the horror series takes a meta approach to the slasher genre, skewering its tropes and always ending with the reveal of a different murderer who has taken on the Ghostface identity.

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2022's Scream will also be the first film in the franchise not directed by Wes Craven. Craven died in 2015, and the new movie is helmed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, the directing duo behind 2019's Ready or Not. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Campbell said the idea of coming back to Scream without Craven "seemed challenging" but that Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett won her over with their "great respect" for the legendary director. Cox also told EW that Craven "would be so happy" with their approach, while Arquette said he felt Craven's "energy" on set.

Scream is set to hit theaters on Jan. 14. Check out the first trailer below.