WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD!

Note: The following timeline will unfold as the films are individually reviewed.

PRE-SCREAM ('96)

Circa 1964: 
  • Gale Weathers is born. (Referenced loosely in 'Scream', 1996 as she notes her difference in age with Dewey Riley).
Circa 1971:
  • Dewey Riley is born.
March 14, 1979:
  • Sydney Prescott is born (17 in 'Scream', 1996).
Circa September, 1994:
  • Sydney Prescott and Billy Loomis start dating.
Circa September, 1995:
  • Maureen Prescott (Sydney's Mother) has several affairs, including Cotton Weary and Billy's father, Han. Nancy Loomis (Billy's Mother) learns of the affairs, and leaves Hank.
Thursday, September 28, 1995:
  • Billy pressures Stu Macher into helping him murder Maureen Prescott, due to her infidelity leading to Billy's parents' separation. Cotton Weary is then framed for the crime.
Between September, 1995 and September, 1996:
  • Cotton Weary is arrested for the murder of Maureen Prescott, and convicted of First-Degree Murder. Even though Sydney testifies in court as a key witness, Gale Weathers remains skeptical about the crime, and writes stories denying her words.
Between Late 1995 and early 1996:
  • Gale writes her first book, 'Wrongly Accused: The Murder of Maureen Prescott'.
September, 1996:
  • Gale announces plans to write a follow-up book, but it is eventually scrapped.​

SCREAM

  • Events of 'Scream' take place between Wednesday, September 25th and Saturday, September 28th, 1996​.
  • Steven Orth and Casey Becker are killed shortly after 10pm on Wednesday, September 25th.
  • Friday, September 27th sees the murders of Arthur Himbrey, Tatum Riley and Kenneth Brown at the hands of the same two killers, Stuart Macher and Billy Loomis.
  • Stuart Macher and Billy Loomis were also killed in self-defence by Sidney Prescott.

POST-SCREAM ('96)/PRE-SCREAM 2

​Immediately following 'Scream' ('96)
  • Nancy Loomis, grieves the loss of her son, Billy. She drastically changes her appearance with weight loss and plastic surgery and conspires for a copycat killing spree in the Spring of 1998.
End of the school year, 1997:
  • 'Scream ('96)' survivors Sidney Prescott and Randy Meeks graduate from Woodsboro High School at 18 years old.
August-September, 1997:
  • Sidney and Randy decide to move to Ohio to start over, and attend school at Windsor College. Sidney gets into theatre, and Randy gets into film studies.
​​Further Events of 1997:
  • Gale Weathers publishes 'The Woodsboro Murders', based on the events in 'Scream ('96)' which becomes a best-seller and leads to supposed leaked nudes which she claims are her head on Jennifer Aniston's body.
  • Sunrise Studios gives the green light to a movie entitled 'Stab'; a slasher film based on the novelization of 'The Woodsboro Murders'. The film's cast includes Tori Spelling as Sidney Prescott (just as Sidney, herself, predicted), Heather Graham as Casey Becker, Luke Wilson as Billy Loomis and David Schwimmer as Dewey Cox among others.
  • Nancy Loomis eventually starts using her alias, Debbie Salt. Contacting a collective of active serial killers, she eventually comes across Mickey Altieri, who she convinces to help her on her revenge killing spree. ​

SCREAM 2

  • Events of 'Scream 2' take place mainly in the late Spring of 1998, presumably around the weekend of Thursday, May 11 to Saturday, May 13.
  • Phil Stevens and Maureen Evans are the first two victims of Nancy Loomis and Mickey Altieri's copycat killing spree, during a Thursday night (May 11) sneak preview of 'Stab'.
    • Fan Theory: A "Sandra Bullock" film is mentioned which could have been 'Hope Floats', originally released Friday, May 12, 1998. 'Scream 2' may begin the previous Thursday night.
  • The following Friday night (May 12), Casey "Cici" Cooper is killed while alone in her sorority house.
  • The following Saturday (May 13), Randy Meeks has an encounter with the killer in the middle of the day and is eventually killed for saying the wrong thing.
  • That night, local police officers Andrews and Richards are found killed as well as Hallie McDaniel and Derek Feldman.
  • Killers, Nancy Loomis and Mickey Altieri are eventually brought down by Sidney Prescott, with the help of Cotton Weary and Gale Weathers, thus ending their spree.​

POST-SCREAM 2/PRE-SCREAM 3

Mid-1998:
  • Sidney, now around 19, is given an honorary diploma because of the Windsor College Murders ('Scream 2').
  • Sidney and Cotton Weary have an interview with Dianne Sawyer.
  • ​​Cotton Weary begins hosting his own talk show, '100% Cotton' (1998—2000). However, he eventually develops a bad reputation as a con man.
  • Gale writes 'College Terror' aka 'The Windsor College Murders' as she waits for Dewey to recover from his wounds from 'Scream 2'. It gets released in late 1998.
  • 'Stab 2', a sequel to 'Stab', based on the Windsor College murders is green-lit and filmed somewhere within this timeframe. It is eventually released sometime in 1999.​
​Between 1998 and 1999:​ 
  • ​Sidney relocates to Monterey, California, adopts a retriever named Cherokee, and takes a job from home as a crisis counselor. She hides her identity under her legally changed name "Laura".
1999:
  • Gale abandons Dewey in Woodsboro for further career opportunities. She is offered '60 Minutes II (1999-2005), but for unknown reasons, it didn't work out. She soon becomes an anchorwoman for 'Total Entertainment'.
  • ​'Stab 2', based on the Windsor College murders is released.
  • Immediately after the release of 'Stab 2', a 'Stab 3' project is green-lit. However, with no real-life events attached to it, the script is fictionalized. The job of directing is given to a little-known music video director, Roman Bridger.

SCREAM 3

  • Events of 'Scream 3' take place around the tail end of January and early February 2000.
  • No specific dates are theorized as to exactly when 'Scream 3' takes place, but February 2000 sees the deaths of Cotton Weary and his girlfriend, Christine Hamilton.
  • Hollywood actors Sarah Darling, Tom Prinze, Angelina Tyler, Tyson Fox and Jennifer Jolie also lose their lives here, making headlines.
  • Eventually, the killer is revealed to be director Roman Bridger, who also happens to be Sidney's half-brother. Sidney stops him on his birthday; February 4.
  • ​Gale and Dewey finally get engaged the next day, February 5.

SCREAM 4

SCREAM ('22)

SCREAM VI