Gale Weathers is a fictional character of the Scream film series, created by Kevin Williamson and portrayed by Courteney Cox.
[5][6] For playing Gale, Cox also holds the record of being the only actress to appear in six consecutive films of a horror franchise.
[8][9] Gale Weathers appears in the Scream films as an ambitious, strong-willed journalist and writer who is initially built up as an antagonist, but ultimately joins forces with Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) and Dewey Riley (David Arquette), the latter of whom she eventually falls in love with and marries, in order to investigate and stop the Ghostface murders.
Scream 4 reveals Stab 3 was eventually re-made based on the events of the studio murders, implying Jurgenstern was recast for the third movie-within-a-movie.
Gale Weathers' first cinematic appearance was in Scream (1996) as the fame-seeking reporter who has written a novel on Maureen Prescott's death, explaining how she thinks Cotton Weary has been falsely identified as the murderer.
When she arrives in Woodsboro with her cameraman, she is rude, bossy and goes to great lengths to get a good story (such as videotaping unsuspecting teens at a house party).
After writing another book on the copycat killings that took place in Windsor College, she is informed that Cotton Weary has been murdered and immediately visits the set of Stab 3: Return to Woodsboro, based on Sidney and her experiences.
Following the resurfacing of Ghostface, Dewey calls Sidney Prescott warning her to stay away from Woodsboro but alerts Gale via a text message.
She is shocked to learn that Dewey, following his inability to properly protect the citizens of Woodsboro, had been asked to resign from his position as Sheriff.
Dewey, still skeptical of Gale's intentions, suspects she is doing this for publicity but their argument comes to a peaceful resolve when they acknowledge why they didn't work out.
While following the trio, Gale laments writing the book on original Woodsboro killings, claiming that if she hadn't, Dewey would still be alive.
A new Ghostface appears in New York City and commits several murders before Gale is then reunited with the Carpenter sisters, the Meeks-Martin twins and fellow Woodsboro survivor Kirby Reed.
Gale manages to use her investigative skills to locate an abandoned theatre which has been turned into a shrine, memorializing all past Ghostface victims and killers.
Before Ghostface can deliver a final stab, Samantha and Tara arrive with paramedics who are able to tend to Gale, who instructs the girls to tell Sidney Prescott that “he never got her” before passing out.
The production wanted a recognizable face for the role of news reporter Gale Weathers, offering it to both Brooke Shields and Janeane Garofalo.
[10] Cox, who was starring in the highly successful NBC sitcom Friends at the time, was not considered due to her history of playing softer, kinder characters.
Craven opined that her presence, like Neve Campbell's, helped raise the profile of Scream and attract a large female audience.