David Arquette
Dwight "Dewey" Riley
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Kevin Williamson. Characters, Screenplay. Two years after the first series of murders, as Sidney Prescott acclimates to college life, someone donning the Ghostface costume begins a new string of killings.
- Overview
- Biography
- Kill Count
- Relationships
- Personality
- Trivia
- Appearances
Cotton Weary was a main character in Scream 2 (1997 film). He also makes a cameo appearance in the original film, and is the opening kill victim of the third film.
A resident of Woodsboro, he had a secret affair with an older woman, Maureen Prescott, and was falsely accused and arrested of her rape and murder in late-September 1995. Gale Weathers felt strongly about his innocence, feeling Maureen seduced Cotton and the killer planted incriminating evidence in his car to frame him, including his coat.
Maureen's daughter, Sidney Prescott, was the key eye-witness in sending Cotton away to await execution. However, he was released from prison a year later when it was revealed that Billy Loomis and Stu Macher were the ones that killed Maureen and framed Cotton.
Opportunistic, he sought fame and fortune with Gale's help and finally achieved it after saving Sidney's life at Windsor College in 1998, even though he was a chief suspect during the second murder spree. His name would be cleared and he would be proven innocent again. He parlayed the media coverage into his own show in Hollywood, 100% Cotton, before finally falling prey to a new Ghostface whose quest was to locate Sidney.
Early Life
Cotton had a secret affair with Maureen Prescott. She was murdered one night after they had sex and the killers (Billy Loomis and Stu Macher) framed him by one of them wearing his coat while leaving the house. Sidney saw the figure in Cotton's jacket and assumed it was him. Over the course of his trial TV reporter, Gale Weathers, frequently defended Cotton, saying he was innocent and that Sidney was lying. Going as far as writing a book about it, Gale insisted that Cotton was framed and subsequently falsely identified as the killer. Sidney's testimony was key in his conviction, which caused him to go to prison for Maureen's rape and murder for at least a year.
The Woodsboro Murders
Sidney watched video footage of Cotton after he was sentenced. Cotton has now been sentenced to death and has been scheduled to be put in the gas chamber according to Gale. Sidney argues with Gale over Cotton's innocence. In the climax of the film it is revealed that the true killers of Maureen Prescott, Billy Loomis and Stu Macher, had framed Cotton for the murder. Between the first and second film, he was made a free man for the first time in a year.
The Windsor College Murders
After being released from custody, Cotton became a regular news feature. However, he expected more fame than he got. He agreed to accompany Gale to Windsor College for an interview and recorded meeting with Sidney after the double homicide of Maureen Evans and Phil Stevens. Sidney refused to participate, which particularly irritated Cotton, because Gale told him Sidney had known about it. Although innocent and compassionate, Cotton also proved to become quickly angered due to his wrongful imprisonment. After Sidney was threatened in an instant message in the library, while the police were searching for its source, Cotton caught a freaked-out Sidney and demanded an interview with Diane Sawyer in an almost threatening way. Such an interview would finally clear his name but would only work if Sidney appeared on the show with him. Due to his rash actions, he became a suspect yet again. There was nothing to hold him for regarding harassment of Sidney so he was released. It was made obvious that he would not drop the matter and leave her alone. That night he found Dewey Riley bleeding in the film department and tried to save him. Gale ran into Cotton after just narrowly escaping the killer and found his hands bloody. She assumed he was the killer. He tried to explain but she refused to listen and ran away. He eventually found Sidney and the real killer, Nancy Loomis, fighting to the death in the theater department. He picked up a gun and stopped the two. Sidney explained Mrs. Loomis and Mickey Altieri were the two killers. Cotton was disappointed, Mrs. Loomis wasn't really a reporter named Debbie Salt but she argued that she could still help his career. Mrs. Loomis seemed to gain Cotton's loyalty by reminding him that Sidney sent him to prison for a year. However, Sidney finally gave in to the Diane Sawyer interview, so he took Mrs. Loomis by surprise and shot her. He assured Sidney, that he would never hurt her and handed over the gun. Gale revealed she was alive and the three left the building. Reporters swarm around Sidney outside, mostly leaving Cotton alone, until Sidney, in order to cancel the debt she had over her erroneous testimony against Cotton, told them, they should get the story from him, adding that he was the hero. He finally got the attention he sought, understood Sidney's actions and told her silently, the debt she had with him was settled and that she can go in peace.
The following is Cotton's Ghostface kill count:
Allies
•Christine Hamilton † - Ex-Lover •Maureen Prescott † - Ex-Lover •Sidney Prescott - Friend •Gale Weathers - Friend •Dewey Riley † •Joel †
Enemies
•Billy Loomis † - Killer •Stu Macher † - Killer •Mickey Altieri † - Killer •Nancy Loomis † - Killer •Roman Bridger † - Killer
Cotton Weary was a self-centered young man. Unjustly convicted, he craved fame to clear his name and gain notoriety.
He was willing to go to great lengths by any means necessary (including not the most honorable) to get his way. Like Gale Weathers, he was an opportunist, but despite this, he is also a morally ambiguous person, who was also not devoid of any vestiges of nobility.
Despite an initially strained relationship with Sidney, he saves her life and they develop a mutual respect and solidarity for each other. He also tried to help Dewey after the killer attacked him, attempting to stop his bleeding (which later saved Dewey's life and allowed him to survive until the ambulance arrived).
During the beginning of the Hollywood murders, being already a successful and well-known figure, he also refused to give up Sidney's whereabouts to the killer, despite the fact that he most likely did not know where she was. He died during a fight with Ghostface, having been lured into his home and trying to rescue his lover Christine.
•He was described as "a once handsome man, now haggard and worn" in the Scream script.
•Character Error: Cotton states he won't shoot a cameo for less than one million dollars for a "cheap slasher flick", referring to Stab 3, then after his death, the reporter states he already shot the cameo.
•Scream 2 draft: Nancy Loomis planned on framing Cotton for the murders. He stabs her to death then has a change of heart. Proving to be extremely opportunistic, he stabs Gale to death and tells Sidney he can have his revenge and make money off it by being the victim. He and Sidney fight then the film fades out on their dying bodies after they've repeatedly stabbed each other.
•Liev Schreiber asked to take his coat off in Scream 3 once he enters his home because he'd recently been working out and wanted to show off his muscles.
•After arriving at Windsor College, Cotton dons the college's sweatshirt to better fit in.
•Cotton tells Gale he tried to save Dewey's life after he found the former police officer stabbed in the film department. Dewey does survive so it may be in part to whatever first aid Cotton performed.
•Scream (1996 film) (cameo)
•Scream 2 (1997 film)
•Scream 3 (2000 film)
•Scream VI (2023 film) (drawing only)
- 2 min
Scream 2 - Full Cast & Crew. 62 Metascore. 1997. 1 hr 55 mins. Drama, Horror, Suspense. R. Watchlist. Where to Watch. Director Wes Craven and screenwriter Kevin Williamson reunited for this...
- Wes Craven
Other major recurring characters include film-geek Randy Meeks, played by Jamie Kennedy, and Cotton Weary, played by Liev Schreiber, in the first three films. The series consists of six films: Scream (1996), Scream 2 (1997), Scream 3 (2000), Scream 4 (2011), Scream (2022), and Scream VI (2023).
CharacterFilm(scream (1996))Film(scream 2 (1997))Film(scream 3 (2000))Scream 2 is a 1997 American slasher film directed by Wes Craven and written by Kevin Williamson. It stars David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jamie Kennedy, Laurie Metcalf, Jerry O'Connell, Elise Neal, Timothy Olyphant, Jada Pinkett, and Liev Schreiber.
Cotton : [Sidney runs backstage and locks herself in; She uses an axe to cause all the stage effects to land on Mrs. Loomis, finally using large bricks to crash down on to Mrs. Loomis; Sidney runs back out to the stage, where Mrs. Loomis tries attacking her with knife, but is stopped by Cotton, firing a gun] Don't you fucking move!
