Gale Weathers

Gale Weathers is the deuteragonist of the Scream franchise. She was a fame-seeking reporter who helped stop all five Ghostface killing sprees.

She is portrayed by Courteney Cox.

Scream
Gale is a reporter who wrote a book on Maureen Prescott's death, explaining how she thinks Cotton Weary is innocent. She is rude, bossy, and goes to great lengths to get a good story (such as secretly videotaping unsuspecting teens at a house party). After Casey Becker and her boyfriend, Steven Orth, are killed, she comes to the town and talks with Sidney after her murder attempt about her book for which she received a hit in the face by Sidney for her lack of consideration. At the night of the party, Gale and Dewey find Neil Prescott's car in the bushes not far from the house. When they go back to the house, they see almost everyone has left the house so Dewey tell Gale to call for backup while he checks out the house. She runs to her van and notices her cameraman brutally murdered. Gale tries to drive away but crashes into a tree after swerving off the road while trying to avoid a terrified Sidney (who has escaped from the house).

Later, when Billy and Stu expose themselves as the killers and confront Sidney about it and their intentions to get away with it by framing her father killing her on the way, an injured Gale arrives and pulls a gun on them. However, the safety is on and Billy kicks her against a pillar on the front porch where Dewey's unconscious body is lying. This gives Sidney time to escape and fight back. Just as Billy prepares to stab Sidney, Gale shoots him with a gun, this time wth the safety off. Sidney then shoots Billy again as he suddenly wakes up - as Randy predicted - for "one last scare."

Scream 2
In Scream 2, she has written a new book about the murders that happened in Woodsboro. Sidney, although grateful she saved her life, refuses to do an interview with Cotton. Gale and Dewey's relationship, although strained at first, eventually turns heated.

After Randy's death, Gale and Dewey search for answers while also dealing with the problems in their relationship (Gale's intention toward Sidney with Cotton and what Gale wrote in her book about himself). The killer turns on footage of all the victims and the last taping is of them. They look in the projector room to see the killer filming them. They flee. Gale is pursuit heavily but narrowly escapes into a small room. After Dewey is finally able to communicate with her through a sound-prevention window, she witnesses Dewey getting stabbed multiple times in the back and believes he is dead. The killer pursues Gale once more but mysteriously disappears after there wasn't a way into the room.

In the climax, Gale is brought in by Debbie Loomis, known as Debbie Salt throughout the movie, to the school theater. Mickey shoots Gale after Mrs. Loomis shoots him and she falls off the stage. However, the bullet bounces off Gale's ribs, allowing her to survive. Once the whole ordeal is over, Mickey suddenly springs to life and is shot to death by Sidney and Gale. During the end of the film, Gale finds out that Dewey is not dead and goes with him to the hospital to recover.

Scream 3
In Scream 3, she is shown to be much more compassionate than in the first two films. She has written a third book based on the copycat killings from the last movie. She returns along with Dewey after Cotton is murdered and the actors filming a third Stab movie are killed off. Again, in Scream 3, Gale and Dewey have an acrimonious relationship based on their past together.

Gale is first seen talking to a group of students about journalism. When the class ends, she meets up with Mark Kincaid, a detective who informs her about the death of Cotton. Shortly after this, goes to the set of Stab 3: Return to Woodsboro and is reunited with Dewey after meeting the actress who portrays her, Jennifer Jolie. Later, she goes to Jennifer's house to see Dewey. After jumping down the hill to avoid the explosion that killed Tom, the actor portraying Dewey in the newStab movie, Gale, Dewey, Jennifer and Angelina all are split up. Gale is attacked by Ghostface, but is saved by Dewey.

She survives the final battle in the home of John Milton. At the end, Dewey asks Gale to marry him, which she accepts.

Scream 4
Gale is trying to reinvent herself as an author but finds that she is having trouble due to writer's block. When Sidney returns to Woodsboro and the killings start again, Gale is excited to have the opportunity to yet again be a part of solving the killings, even though Dewey doesn't want her involved in the investigation. Going "rogue" (as she puts it), Gale goes undercover at a Stab-a-thon party—a party at a barn to screen the seven Stab films—to catch the killer. However, Gale is attacked and nearly killed by Charlie Walker as Ghostface in the barn on camera. Thankfully, Dewey made it to the barn in time to save her and rush her to the hospital. Gale is only stabbed in the shoulder and manages to recover.

Gale survives her wounds and pieces together who the killer is by simply using logic. She and Dewey realize that Sidney cousin Jill Roberts is the mastemind behind the killings, because Jill as a victim would've known where Gale was stabbed. She is present at the final confrontation, where she distracts Jill long enough for Sidney to get the upper hand with a defibrillator. She yet again survives, tending to Dewey, who is injured on the floor.

Personality
Gale's character progresses throughout the 4 movies from opportunistic, glory hound to a caring, family woman. Surviving the murder sprees creates a bond between her, Sidney, and Dewey. In Scream, Gale ensures that she always gets the story, ordering Kenny to film anything that happens. The first solid sign of her growing is in the middle and at the end of Scream 2, she shows more growth when she opts to go with Dewey to the hospital instead of covering the story of the Windsor College Murders. She never completely lets go of that sensationalist part of her but rather grows into a deeper character, adding a softer layer. Due to her surviving the events of all of the movies, she is a rather formidable survivor along with Sidney.

Trivia

 * Gale is both a reporter and an author. She wrote several books, including one about Weary's innocence, and on the Woodsboro Murders.
 * Gale punched Jennifer Jolie (who played Gale in the Stab film in Scream 3). This symbolizes more of Gale's likeness and bond towards Sidney in trauma and survival. At times, Gale will display a survivor's edge look along with Sidney.
 * Other than the fact she is married to Dewey, her own family hasn't appeared nor been mentioned in the series yet.
 * Gale Weathers has been punched twice: once in Scream and Scream 2, both by Sidney.
 * Near the end of Scream 3, Dewey asked Gale to marry him. She accepted and took the Riley's family last name as Gale Riley.

Behind the Scenes

 * She was described as "Thirties; her smart face is overshadowed by a flashy smile and a massive mane of chemically enhanced hair" in the Scream script.
 * In the original script for Scream 2, she was depicted as being closer to Sidney and was killed at the end of the script.
 * She was described as "GALE WEATHERS, the flashy thirty-something news anchor and author of the WOODSBORO MURDERS" in the Scream 3 script.
 * Actress and comedienne Jeaneane Garofalo was offered the part of Gale Weathers-Riley but she turned it down.
 * During filming the first three films, Courteney Cox was starring in Friends as Monica Geller and surprisingly didn't miss a single episode even although she had to film for months from the first to the third films. Also, during Scream 4, she was starring in Cougar Town.
 * Courteney Cox agreed to appear in Scream 3 only if it would be her final film but she came back for Scream 4 anyway.
 * In Scary Movie, the character based on Gale is named "Gail Hailstorm" and has written a book entitled "You're Dead, I'm Rich"﻿.