Marnie Cooper was a minor character in Scream 4 (2011 film). Alongside best friend, Jenny Randall, she is the true opening kill victim of the fourth film after two back-to-back Stab film fake-outs.
As a senior at Woodsboro High School, she was targeted by the remake mastermind Jill Roberts and her accomplice, Charlie Walker. She was not a fan of horror films, unlike her best friend, and felt the people who made the Stab films were 'under-thinking it'.
Marnie was the first to fall victim to the fourth Ghostface killing spree, known as the Woodsboro Massacre Remake, though she is killed off-screen. Her outfit and appearance strongly resemble Casey Becker, as a remake homage.
Marnie appears after two Stab fake-out sequences. She is watching the opening sequence of Stab 7 (2010) starring Kristen Bell as Chloe, who is one of the two Ghostface killers of the seventh Stab entry, who murders her friend, Rachel (played by Anna Paquin) in the meta cold opening, a critical commentary against the backlash Stab 6 received for its Facebook Ghostface killer.
"Somebody falls for it every year".
She and her best friend, Jenny Randall are Woodsboro High seniors, Class of 2012, and familiar with Sidney Prescott's cousin, Jill Roberts. She is watching the film at the Randall Residence on a Wednesday night sometime in September 2011, while Jenny's parents are not at home.
She questions the logic behind Stab 7's opening sequence being Stab 6 (2009), and questions whether the same rules apply for Stab 5 (2008) and Stab 6, and then asks what Stab 4 (2007) is about. Jenny tells her that she is "overthinking it", while Marnie retorts, "Am I? Or did whoever make it just under-think it? There's a reason I don't watch these movies".
Marnie's confusion stems from the label that the films are based on events in Woodsboro, stating, "That has nothing to do with Woodsboro", to which Jenny politely explains the legal threats pursued by Sidney Prescott after the release of Stab 3: Hollywood Horror, which was the concluding chapter to the original trilogy based on true events, though rather loosely. (It also sparked controversy due to being the second attempt at a Stab 3, following the cancellation of Stab 3: Return to Woodsboro due to its real-life killings.)
Marnie's corpse appears.
Following this, Jenny claims to hear a noise upstairs and goes up to investigate, leaving Marnie alone downstairs. Marnie immediately suspects Jenny is just trying to play a prank on her, which she later finds out to be true.
At that moment, Ghostface calls her and asks her the infamous line, "This is the last person you're ever gonna see alive." However, it is revealed, as suspected, that it is only Jenny on the other end, using a Ghostface app on her iPhone 3GS.
Jenny then hears Marnie choke out, and runs downstairs to find her in confusion and worry. She assumes that Marnie is trying to trick her in response and walks around the house looking for her.
The real Ghostface (presumably Jill) calls her friend Jenny, telling her she's in his movie now. Jenny asks "What movie?" And the voice responds, "The same one Marnie's in, only her part got cut way back". The voice insults Marnie's best friend, before warning her that she'd "better start running." Then, after speaking the line, Marnie's corpse is thrown through the shattered window and Jenny runs.
Aftermath
Video footage of Marnie's previously off-screen murder.
Her friend Jenny is chased and finally killed in her own garage moments later. It appears from the impact, Marnie was murdered before being thrown through shattered glass, which is later confirmed in the third act of the film.
Marnie is indirectly mentioned by Deputy Anthony Perkins in the aftermath as he describes the Randall house as "bad, really bad", to Sheriff Dewey Riley. Later, reporters who document the scene of the crime refer to her and Jenny as "two girls butchered" the exact day Sidney Prescott chose to return to her hometown.
Her English teacher, Mr. Baker, expresses shock over her murder, as does Olivia Morris, who previously referred to her as "Marnie the carnie". She is later mentioned directly by Robbie Mercer after Olivia Morris dies, saying "Olivia is dead. So are Jenny Randall and Marnie Cooper." In the climax of the movie, Charlie Walker shows his act of violence against her, holding up a phone as Sidney Prescott witnesses a video clip of Marnie being stabbed in the stomach.
Deleted scenes
Original opening (non-canon)
In the original opening, Marnie is presented as the main victim. Jenny hears the noise upstairs and goes to investigate, but this time when she comes back downstairs, she looks around briefly and she sees Marnie lying next to the couch seemingly dead.
After a moment, she smiles and laughs. Marnie was only playing a prank on Jenny to get even, revealing she knew all along that Jenny was up to something. They sit on the couch and agreed to stop trying to scare each other saying it is bad enough they had to grow up in this town and Jenny declares Marnie the winner. Marnie gets up from the couch and goes to the kitchen to get something for them to snack on.
Deleted Scene: Marnie's shock over Jenny's murder.
Jenny tells Marnie, "You're not fooling anyone, I think you secretly like horror movies." Marnie just vaguely responds with "Maybe." What the girls didn't realize is that during their prank, the glass window was left open, allowing easy access for an intruder. Ghostface stands for an extended period of time behind Jenny. As soon as Marnie closes the refrigerator door, she sees this and says, "Okay, assholes, real original." Jenny asks Marnie "What?", completely oblivious. Then, Ghostface stabs her in the back.
Marnie's original filmed death scene footage was later used as part of the murder footage in the climax that Charlie shows to Sidney.
When Ghostface starts stabbing Jenny in the stomach, Marnie thinks it is still a prank, but soon after recognizes Jenny is truly screaming in pain and panics. When she sees that Jenny is really dead, she screams as the killer turns his attention toward her with his blade and slices her arm.
A short chase ensues. She rebukes him as she runs, calling him a "bastard". Marnie grabs the phone off the kitchen counter and races for the front door, trying to call for help. However, Ghostface runs around to the foyer where he knows he'll meet her and grabs her from behind. Pleading, she screams, "No, please!" as he stabs her in the stomach and she falls to the ground mortally wounded.
Ghostface stands over her, still alive. Marnie's last words were, "You're... not real." Then the knife dives down, making the titles come up indicating she has become another victim.
Autopsy scene (non-canon)
Marnie in a deleted scene after her corpse is found by the police (non-canon).
The next day, Dewey and Deputy Judy Hicks meet while the officers are taking down the Ghostface masks from the light poles throughout the city. They are called to the Randall house for a serious inquiry with Deputy Perkins saying, "It's bad, Sheriff, real bad."
Marnie’s corpse is found hanging to the ceiling fan by Dewey, Deputy Hicks and other Woodsboro police, where they take various camera shots of the death scene. It was crafted to show her reflect the victim role of Steven Orth, despite having a visual, modern reference for Casey Becker in attire and hair color. Once the pictures are taken, Dewey immediately requests to cut Marnie's corpse down from the ceiling fan and cover them up saying, "They're just kids." Wes Craven cameos in the scene as a coroner.
"You're kidding. I don't get it." (referring to Stab 6 and Stab 7)
"I get that but it's illogical! It begs the question that if the beginning of Stab 7 is Stab 6 then is the beginning of Stab 6 Stab 5 and if so, what is Stab 4 about?" (Referring to the Stab 7 opening.)
"There's a reason I don't watch these movies."
"You're just trying to scare me."
"I don't see how you get off on this shi- (gargles)"
Deleted Original Opening
"Gotcha!" (after pranking Jenny back)
"Please! I knew you were up to something!" (Revealing she knew Jenny was pranking her.)
"I think you secretly like horror movies." (Jenny to Marnie)
(Sarcastically) "Nice, assholes. Real original." (After Ghostface appears behind Jenny).
"Okay, Jenny. You've already had your chance to scare me." (When Ghostface is killing Jenny and Marnie assumes it a prank.)
"What are you - are you crazy?! You bastard!" (after Ghostface kills Jenny in the alternate opening.)
"You're not real." (to Ghostface before she is stabbed and killed in the alternate opening.)
Trivia
She is the first Woodsboro Ghostface murder victim in 15 years, since Kenny Brown.
Olivia Morris disliked her, referring to her as "Marnie the Carny".
In the original draft, Olivia says, "Jenny Randall is weird. Her and her little Marnie the Carny friend are freaks." (A reference to them being freaks in a carnival circus).
She is the first true victim of Scream 4, though she dies off-screen. Her murder is later seen through Charlie's video footage in Act 3.
Death scene was re-shot in January 2011, following poor test screenings for the original sequence. Fans at the test screening attributed this to the lack of editing/final cut product in the sequence, rather than the plot sequence itself, but Bob Weinstein nonetheless requested for it to be re-shot.
Many fans later showed preferential treatment towards the original shot and deleted opening sequence with Marnie as the focus, rather than the final produced sequence featuring Jenny as the main focus.
Its reshoot also contradicts a Stab 7 line that was intended to subvert expectations. In the film-within-a-film, Rachel complains of a girl in the opening sequence who picks up a phone, undoubtedly leading to her demise. The original opening sequence intentionally subverts this expectation, with the phone call being a prank, and the later assumed second prank being the murder, whereas the reshot sequence plays into the cliche that it was making fun of, showing Jenny taunted on the phone.
Her Shirt resembles Pamela Voorhees from Friday the 13th (1980).
Marnie's clothing and aura is very similar to Casey Becker's, in the alternative/original opening and a deleted scene where it shows Marnie hanging and with multiple stab wounds to the stomach in the living room, Marnie was shown as the remake of Casey Becker but in the final cut Jenny is shown like a remake of Casey.
After the final cut, fans speculated that Marnie was not a target for Jill and Charlie, only Jenny. That Marnie was collateral damage and that she was in the wrong place at the wrong time (some fans also speculated that Marnie is probably the new Steven Orth for being close to the second victim and being the first victim) However, many fans believe that Casey's character is reflected in both characters, both Jenny and Marnie, Jenny shows the "non-innocent" side, while Marnie the "innocent" side.
Her last name is the same as Scream 2 victim, Cici Cooper, however it is unknown if they are related in some way.
The dialogue referencing Marnie being on "the cutting room floor" is meta. It refers to the scrapped material that featured Britt Robertson in a more prominent role. In the final product, she is on screen for less than one minute.
Her casting call states: "Friend of Patty's. Funny and mischievous, loves practical jokes. Sometimes pushes too far. Bored with Woodsboro’s obsession with the murders that happened when she and her friends were toddlers."
In one of the drafts of script, she is described as "MARNIE, 16, brainy, over-achiever."
There is a deleted scene where the police investigate the crime scene. It shows Marnie hung from the ceiling fan and Jenny bound to a chair, much like Casey Becker and Steven Orth from Scream. This is what Gale is refering to when she asks if there's any comment on these killings paralleling the original Woodsboro murders at the press conference being held at Woodsboro Community Hospital.
Charlie was especially proud of killing Marnie.
Like the rest of the deleted scenes, the alternate opening was released with no score.
It can be assumed that Marnie died the same way she did in the alternate opening, judging from the clip Charlie shows.
Possibly this is not canon or was not mentioned because if Marnie's mom had gone to the same class as Sidney, she would have implied that Marnie was a teen pregnancy.
Marnie and Jenny coupling (friends) are officially the first same-sex duo in the opening of the films in the Scream franchise that there is no male but rather two females, breaking from the tradition of opening with the male and female couple being killed off which is shown with:
The opening of the films within the Stab franchise in this film (Sherrie and Trudie who both die in Stab 6, which then saw Chloe who kills Rachel in Stab 7, with the former foreshadowing the real life friends' demise) also show two females in each of the opening scenes.
Marnie and Jenny are also the first same gender duo featured in the opening of the film series, with the second and latest being biological twin brothers Deion Elliot and Marcus Elliot from Season 3 of the TV series, respectively.
