The Scream series has released a critically and commercially successful installment in each of the last four decades, which makes it easily one of horror’s most impressive and enduring movie franchises. The most recent movies in the self-aware slasher series are very conscious of that status. While the Scream franchise’s penchant for meta commentary was originally laser-focused on parodying slashers, the 2022 Scream and its sequel, Scream VI, focus more on skewering franchises and IP. According to Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, who directed both of the newer Scream movies, it felt necessary to leave horror behind a bit in the new world of superheroes and blockbusters.