Summary
Sidney Prescott has been through unimaginable trauma over the course of theScreamfranchise.She is set to go through it all again inScream 7,when Ghostface returns to wreak havoc on her planned happy ending. Sidney had already been through significant trauma before the events of the original movie. One year before Ghostface attacks inScream, Sidney finds her mother, Maureen Prescott, brutally murdered. This is the event that sparks the brutal chain of events in the Scream franchise.
The murder of Maureen Prescott would be a major factor in the original trilogy, with certain revelations coming out about the twisted events of that brutal night in Woodsboro, California in 1995. Maureen Prescott appears in a photograph with Sidney (Neve Campbell) inScream, before appearing in a nightmare cameo sequence inScream 3.A little-known actress named Lynn McRee portrays the slain mother of the iconic final girl on both occasions.
Who Killed Maureen Prescott, and Who Was Framed?
Maureen Prescott was married to a man named Neil. They had a teenage daughter called Sidney, and they all lived in the sleepy town of Woodsboro, California. But Maureen had her secrets, which eventually led to her brutal murder in 1995. Maureen was having affairs with married men, and one of these men was Hank Loomis, the father ofBilly Loomis. When Billy’s mother, Nancy, found out about Hank’s affair, she skipped town and abandoned Billy.
Billy enlisted his friend,Stu Macher, to help him get revenge on Maureen. They brutally murdered her, and got away with it, after framing one of Maureen’s other lovers, Cotton Weary, for the crime. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. It was Sidney’s testimony that sealed Cotton Weary’s fate, as she testified to seeing him leave the crime scene wearing the same coat that was later found in his car covered in Maureen’s blood. Tabloid journalistGale Weathers' storylineinvolves her turning up to cover the story when Casey Becker and Steven Orth are found brutally murdered. It turns out, she was also covering the trial of Cotton Weary, and thought he was innocent. She had been instrumental in his defense after writing a book about the case.
This causes tension between Sidney and Gale, and the murders of Casey and Steve re-ignite the bad blood between them. Gale wrote some negative stories about Sidney, claiming she lied and falsely identified Cotton as the man who murdered her mother. Gale claims that Cotton left his coat at her house after Maureen seduced him.
After the murders of Casey and Steve, coupled with the attacks on Sidney by Ghostface, the final girl begins to doubt her original testimony, with Gale convinced the killings are linked and, like any journalist, she sees an opportunity to capitalize on the story:
Jesus Christ, an innocent man on death row. A Killer still on the loose, Kenny, tell me I’m dreaming. If I’m right about this, I could save a man’s life. Do you know what that could do for my book sales?
It all comes during the big reveal at the end ofScream 2,when Billy and Stu tell Sidney that they killed Maureen one year ago. Billy and Stu are killed, and Cotton Weary is exonerated. During the events ofScream 2, Cotton wants his five minutes of fame, and believes that Sidney owes him after falsely accusing him of Maureen’s murder. Cotton is considered a suspect in the Windsor College murders, but ends up saving the day. He even kills one of the actual Ghostface killers, Nancy Loomis, who has tracked Sidney down to avenge the death of her son, Billy. In return for saving her life, Sidney agrees to the Diane Sawyer joint interview that Cotton so desperately wants.
What Role Did Roman Bridger Play in Maureen’s Death?
Cotton Weary ends up moving to Hollywood to seek fame and fortune, and becomes the host of the nationally syndicated number one show on television called100% Cotton. Unfortunately for Cotton, a new Ghostface is on the loose, who murders him and his girlfriend, Christine, inScream 3.
Ghostface is revealed to be a man namedRoman Bridger. He’s the director of the movieStab 3: Return to Woodsboro, and more significantly, the long-lost half brother of Sidney Prescott. Turns out, Maureen Prescott was an up-and-coming star in Hollywood when she became the victim of a gang rape, and became pregnant with Roman. Maureen decided to give Roman up for adoption. She moved back to Woodsboro, and Sidney was born a few years later. Roman went in search of his long-lost mother, but she rejected him and left him heartbroken. In his words:
I searched for a mother, too. An actress named Rina Reynolds. Tried to find her my whole life and four years ago, I actually tracked her down. Knocked at her door thinking she’d welcome me with open arms. But she had a new life and a new name: Maureen Prescott. You were the only child she ever claimed, Sidney. She shut me out in the cold forever. Her own son.
Scarred by his mother’s rejection, Roman tracked down Billy Loomis and told him about Maureen’s affair with his father, Hank. He was the one who encouraged the young psychopath to murder the woman who caused his own mother, Nancy, to abandon him.
Maureen Prescott’s murder was the catalyst for everything that has happened in theScreamuniverse. The story is bound to come up again inScream 7, with the focus shifting back onto Sidney Prescott. Sidney is a mother of two now, and the new Ghostface killings could bring back memories of her own slain mother all those years ago. CouldScream 7’s Ghostface somehow be linked to Maureen’s tortured past? The answer to this question will likely arrive in 2025 whenScream 7hits theaters.
