Fans of "Scream" must be excited to find out that the ghostface killer is coming back for Season 2 on MTV.
The hit horror series, based on the "Scream" movie franchise, focuses on a gang of high schoolers, who are prey to a deranged killer following a cyber-bullying incident.
Although the television show has aired only 5 episodes, it has proven worthy of another killer season -- the premiere episode opened to 1.03 million viewers. MTV claims more than 21 million viewers have watched some of "Scream," while the series overall has generated 7.9 million streams across various platforms, according to Variety. The publication also reports that prior to the fifth episode, "Scream" was averaging about "1.4 million viewers and a 0.85 rating in MTV's target demo of adults 18 to 34 year[s] old."
Executives seem to be pumped by the ratings and are excited the franchise can live on television, inviting a whole new audience and generation to experience the thrill of "Scream."
"It has been a wonderful experience working with [executive producer] Bob Weinstein and his team, who are such connoisseurs of this genre, and we are thrilled by how our viewers have responded to the reinvention of 'Scream," MTV's executive VP of series development and head of scripted programming says.
"We look forward to another season filled with suspense, horror and more twists and turns," she adds.
Weinstein's team also includes the director of the "Scream" film franchise, Wes Craven, as well as showrunners Jill Blotevogel and Jaime Paglia.
When questioned by Variety on whether a series that murders the main characters can survive, Paglia advises they have created an "intelligent psychopath," who can compare and hold one's own against current television slayers, like the murderers in "'Hannibal," "The Following" and "Dexter."
"There's a certain level of sophistication and planning on television shows now. We needed to have a killer that could compete with them. This is not a killer who is going to take risks," Paglia responded. "When the killer does show up, you want to feel that someone is definitely going to die. If you undercut that with too many near-misses, I think so many of the audience isn't going to feel that afraid of the show."
"Scream" airs Tuesday nights at 10 p.m. E.T. on MTV.