Trivia: The first wave of ads for Scream worked hard to downplay that it was a slasher film. There were no clear shots of the killer in costume and emphasis was put on the killer's phone calls and characters trying to solve the mystery. Ads described it as a "thriller" and Wes Craven a "master of suspense" (rather than horror). Later ads proudly touted how "scary" and "terrifying" the movie was but still refrained from showing the killer's costume or using the word "horror."
Trivia: Drew Barrymore was cast in a different part and had to drop out, Craven thought about not making the movie without her, when she came up with the idea of her playing Casey and being killed off at the beginning because no-one would expect it.
Trivia: In the beginning of the film before Drew Barrymore is killed, Wes Craven needed to make sure she was as upset as possible for the scenes that followed. As Drew is a huge animal lover Wes kept reminding her of an incident where an animal had been hurt by a human which then led to her getting upset.
Trivia: Ghostface is mainly played by a stuntman, not the two actors he is portrayed to be.
Trivia: When the principal, played by Henry Winkler aka the Fonz, is in the bathroom, he goes to comb his hair, then realizes that it's ok, just like on Happy Days.
Trivia: Dewey was actually meant to be dead when he falls down after being stabbed in the back. The short coda of him being taken away in an ambulance was added in at the last minute. Director Wes Craven fell in love with the character and enjoyed working with David Arquette, and didn't want Dewey to die. So he decided to let the character live, so he could return for the sequels.
Trivia: Liev Schreiber took the role of Cotton to help pay off some school debt. He was offered a small pay-day for a day's work where he basically just had to walk a short distance then get into a car. He figured it'd be a simple paycheck, and didn't realise his character would end up becoming a principal player in the sequel.
Trivia: A strange urban legend went around shortly after the film's release claiming the various references to Sharon Stone in this film were because Stone had once seduced and had an affair with Wes Craven's wife.
Trivia: Sidney was specifically blonde in the script. When Drew Barrymore switched roles from Sidney to Casey, it caused an odd ripple effect on the cast's various hair colors. It was decided to cast a brunette (Neve Campbell) for Sidney to give her a distinct look from Casey. In turn, Rose McGowan decided to dye her hair blonde so that her character, Tatum, would look more distinct from Sidney.
Trivia: After the release of this film, Caller ID sales shot up by over 300% for a period of time. This was a pretty big deal, too, as it was the mid-90's and Caller ID was not a standard feature on phones as it is now. The spike in sales is sometimes attributed to young adults seeing this film and becoming frightened by the idea of receiving a phonecall and not knowing who was on the other side, although it's never been 100% confirmed that this was the case. Either way, it's an interesting correlation.
Suggested correction: It's one of those rumors I'd really love to be able to get a quotable, reliable source for. The figure "300% up" is referred to the US market, from what I understand, but again, color me surprised if it's an actual, legitimate figure and not just one random number.
Submitted a word change saying that's it's never been 100% confirmed because it is indeed hard to verify. But given it's also one of those "cool factoids" that people have thrown around for decades, I do think this rumor has a place in the trivia.
Absolutely! I really wish someone could provide a source for it or just cite it as a fun rumor.;).
Trivia: Melissa Joan Hart was in the running to play Sidney.
Trivia: The lines in which the characters compare Sidney to Meg Ryan and Tori Spelling are leftovers from when Drew Barrymore was slated to play Sidney, who was specifically described as blonde in the script. Of course, when Tori Spelling actually appeared in Scream 2, it wasn't anything a little hair dye couldn't fix.
Trivia: One of the early signs that Stu is one of the killers is during the scene when Ghostface attacks Sidney in her house. When Ghostface chases Sidney up the stairs to her room, he says "Easy, easy!", which sounds like Stu's voice. Stu even says that same line to Tatum the next day when she hits him with the lollipop.
Trivia: In what was then an odd move, the film was released around Christmas, with producer Bob Weinstein taking a gamble that horror fans wouldn't have anything else to watch, so they'd go see it. The movie underperformed its opening weekend, grossing only $6 million. However, strong reviews and excellent word of mouth caused ticket sales to spike in the following weeks, and it remained in the top-10 for over two months, eventually becoming a massive sleeper hit and grossing $100 million domestically.
Trivia: In the part where Billy and Sidney are in Stu's parents bedroom, after they've had sex, the killer comes in and stabs Billy. Watch the killer in the background after he stabs Billy - notice that there is no blood on the knife and the killer seemingly wipes the knife blade off anyways. Then there's a shot of Sidney, and then it goes back to the killer. At this point in time, there is now blood on the knife and he then wipes the knife blade off again. Would be a mistake, except we later find out Billy is in on it, so we can assume his accomplice Stu was wiping blood onto the knife the first time to maintain appearances, then removing it the second time. Nice attention to detail.
Trivia: The guy playing Sheriff Berk also played a very young police officer in A Nightmare on Elm Street.
