Last film directed by Wes Craven before he died from brain cancer on August 30, 2015, at the age of seventy-six.
Dewey's limp, a result of a stab wound in the first film and shown to be quite prominent in the sequels, is no longer present. Though not explained onscreen, the script dismisses it quickly with a screen direction note: "His limp is nearly nonexistent. Years of physical therapy."
In the deleted scenes, Dewey (David Arquette) explains to Gale (Courteney Cox) that Neil Prescott (Lawrence Hecht) (Sidney's father) has passed away since appearing in Scream 3 (2000) and this is the first time Sidney (Neve Campbell) has returned to Woodsboro since his death.
Courteney Cox and David Arquette, who were married in 1999 after meeting during the making of Scream (1996), had filed for separation in October of 2010. Although there was slight tension on the set, they were said to have remained professional and respectful of each other. They later divorced in May of 2012.
At four installments, this initially land marked the Scream franchise as being one of the only horror franchises to have both its main characters as well as its director (Wes Craven) return for all of its sequels, until the release of Scream (2022), which features a new director(s) as a result of Craven's death.