Dewey Riley

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Dewey first appears in Scream (1996) as a police officer and the older brother of Tatum Riley, best friend of protagonist Sidney Prescott. After the murders of Steve Orth and Casey Becker, Dewey questions students at Woodsboro High School to narrow down suspects. He is stabbed in the back by Ghostface during the house party but survives. In Scream 2, now paralyzed in one leg due to a nerve severed when he was stabbed, Dewey flies out to Windsor College, Ohio to keep an eye on Sidney. He is repeatedly stabbed in the back again by Ghostface but survives. In Scream 3, Dewey accepts a job on the set of Stab 3 as a technical advisor and flies out to Los Angeles. He saves Gale from being stabbed by Ghostface by shooting at him. He proposes to Gale, who accepts. In Scream 4, Dewey now resides in Woodsboro with Gale and works as the town's sheriff. He is knocked out by Jill Roberts but survives. In Scream (2022), now a divorced and retired recluse who lives alone in a trailer, Dewey is brutally stabbed to death by Ghostface (Amber Freeman).

In Their Own Story

Dewey made his cinematic debut in Scream (1996). In the film, he is a police officer and the older brother of Tatum Riley. Following the murders of Steve Orth and Casey Becker, Dewey questions the students at Woodsboro High School. After Sidney is attacked by Ghostface, Dewey arrives with the other officers at her house and arrests Billy Loomis. At the police station, Dewey tries to help Sidney contact her father, Neil, to no avail. The following day, Dewey meets Gale Weathers outside the school. The two flirt before a loudspeaker announces that school is being closed. That night, Dewey drops Sidney and Tatum off at a house party thrown by Stu Macher. Dewey and Gale leave after secretly hiding a camera in the party. They wander down a road, chatting flirtatiously, with Dewey revealing that his real name is Dwight and that Dewey is just a nickname he got stuck with at a young age. They are nearly run over but jump out of the way in time, landing on top of each other and sharing a kiss. Gale notices Neil Prescott's car nearby and alerts Dewey. They run back to the house, with Dewey going inside to investigate. He is stabbed in the back by Ghostface and collapses. After the film's climax, it is confirmed that Dewey survived the stab the next morning.

Reader's Guide

Dewey appears in Scream in 1996, Scream 2 in 1997, Scream 3 in 2000, Scream 4 in 2011, and Scream in 2022, in which the character is murdered by one of the Ghostface killers. During the events of Scream VI, Dewey is mentioned several times. He also makes a posthumous cameo appearance in Scream 7. In Stab, the fictional film within a film based on the Ghostface murders, and again in Stab 3, Dewey is portrayed by David Schwimmer and fictional actor Tom Prinze, respectively. David Arquette also reprised his role as Dewey in Creed's "What If" music video from the Scream 3 soundtrack.

Did You Know?

• David Arquette was initially called in to audition for the role of Billy Loomis but requested to director Wes Craven that he play Dewey instead, which Craven agreed to.
• Dewey was initially written to die in the first Scream, but was kept alive in a last-minute decision that Wes Craven considered 'The best decision [they] ever made'.
• Dewey's real name is Dwight; Dewey is just a nickname he got stuck with at a young age.
• In the fictional film Stab, Dewey is portrayed by David Schwimmer, and in Stab 3 by fictional actor Tom Prinze.
• David Arquette reprised his role as Dewey in Creed's 'What If' music video from the Scream 3 soundtrack.