The film was released on December 12, 1997 by Dimension Films as the second installment in the "Scream" film series. "Scream 2" takes place one year after "Scream" and again follows the character of Sidney Prescott (Campbell) and her brother Jerry (Lillard), now students at the fictional Windsor College, who becomes the target of a copycat killer using the guise of Ghostface. Sidney and Jerry are accompanied by film-geek Randy Meeks (Kennedy), Jerry's friend Tom Scott (Shepard) retired deputy sheriff Dewey Riley (Arquette) and news reporter Gale Weathers (Cox). Like its predecessor, "Scream 2" combines the violence of the slasher genre with elements of comedy and "whodunit" mystery while satirizing the cliché of film sequels. The film was followed by two sequels, "Scream 3" (2000) and "Scream 4" (2011).