Five Film Facts: 'Scream'
1 / 5
Five Film Facts Scream title card
From the opening scene, moviegoers in 1996 were scared silly by Wes Craven's "Scream." After all, the character played by the most famous actor in the cast was done in before the opening credits. But that wasn't how it was originally planned to be. Drew Barrymore was originally cast in the lead role of Sidney Prescott, but her schedule changed unexpectedly and she wouldn't be able to film the whole movie. It was actually her idea to switch her to the part of Casey Becker, a less time-consuming but ultimately iconic role. "The first scene was really reminiscent of [the 1979 horror movie] 'When a Stranger Calls,'" Barrymore told Entertainment Weekly, "and it was absolutely my favorite part." After an exhaustive search -- both Reese Witherspoon and Brittany Murphy were considered for the role -- Neve Campbell, the then 23-year-old star of TV's "Party of Five," was cast as Sidney. Now, 14 years later, Ghostface is after her again in "Scream 4." Click ahead to find out some other little-known facts about this horror movie franchise that just can't be killed.
Five Film Facts: 'Scream'