Scream flicks.The first-ever Scream film, written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Wes Craven, debuted in 1996. Its popularity was met with massive success that would later spawn a booming franchise that included three additional films in 1997, 2000 and 2011.Neve Campbell (Sydney Prescott), Courteney Cox (Gale Weathers) and David Arquette (Dwight “Dewey” Riley) have starred in all four Scream films.