At long last, the Scream franchise is getting what it’s always needed: An older dude with nice hair who suggests to all involved that everyone will be okay if we just take a minute to breathe, and think about this whole “random murderer” situation in a calm and collected fashion.
That’s right, folks: Dermot Mulroney is coming to Woodsboro (or wherever this latest film is going to be set).
This is per The Hollywood Reporter, which notes that Mulroney is the latest actor to sign on to the upcoming sixth movie in the long-running slasher franchise, said sequel having been announced roughly five minutes after it was confirmed that 2022’s Scream was a low-budget horror success. (Ah, horror: Where $140 million box office on a $24 million budget is actually viewed as sustainable movie-making.)
Most of the previously announced additions to the cast of Scream 6 (or Scream 2022 2, or whatever they’ll call it) have been legacy hires; most notably, Hayden Panettiere has been tapped to return to the franchise after co-starring in Scream 4; Courtney Cox and Neve Campbell are both already on board to return, as are Scream (2022) stars Melissa Barrera, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding, and Jenna Ortega.
Mulroney, meanwhile, is a newcomer to the franchise, which usually means he’s one of the new movie’s killers, or obvious Ghostface bait. (Or both, because it turns out spree killers are often terrible creative partners.) Mulroney has worked steadily in recent years, co-starring in Sandra Oh’s Umma and playing one of the antagonists of Amazon Prime Video’s Hanna TV show. His horror bona fides include Umma, a short turn on American Horror Story in 2017 (presumably intended as away to keep people who continuously confuse him with Dylan McDermott on their toes) and a starring role in 2015’s Insidious: Chapter 3.
