Hayden Panettiere to reprise role as Kirby Reed in next ‘Scream’ film

Los Angeles, May 12 (IANS): Actress Hayden Panettiere will reprise her ‘Scream 4’ role of Kirby Reed for the next instalment in the franchise.

She’s set to star alongside Melissa Barrera, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding and Jenna Ortega, who toplined the recent reboot of the franchise from directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (aka Radio Silence), report aVariety’.

The next ‘Scream’ film will pick up with Sam (Barrera), Mindy (Brown), Chad (Gooding) and Tara (Ortega) – four survivors of the most recent batch of Ghostface killings – as they leave Woodsboro behind and start a fresh chapter.

Panettiere’s Kirby, you might recall, is the former Woodsboro resident who was the lone teenage survivor of the Second Woodsboro Murders in the fourth ‘Scream’ film. Principal photography on the sequel, also to be helmed by Radio Silence, will kick off this summer.

James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick are co-writing the screenplay, with Project X Entertainment’s Vanderbilt, Paul Neinstein and William Sherak serving as producers. ‘Scream’ franchise creator Kevin Williamson and Radio Silence’s third member, Chad Villella, will executive produce alongside Spyglass’ Gary Barber and Peter Oillataguerre, Ron Lynch, Cathy Konrad and Marianne Maddalena.

It will hit theatres worldwide March 31, 2023.

Panettiere is well-known for her roles on the hit television series ‘Heroes’ (NBC) and ‘Nashville’ (ABC), and for starring in such films as ‘Custody’, alongside Viola Davis, ‘The Forger’, with Josh Hutcherson and ‘Remember the Titans’, opposite Denzel Washington.