John Milton
Portrayed by	Lance Henriksen
Location	Hollywood
Occupation	Film producer
Family	Roman Bridger (Son, deceased)
Status	Deceased
Appearance(s)	Scream 3

John Milton was the producer behind the Stab series. He was killed by his son, Roman Bridger.

History

Background

John Milton was a Hollywood horror movie producer. Young actress Rina Reynolds (the stage name of Maureen Prescott) was the star of three of his horror films. In order to keep on getting good roles, Rina, as well as some of Milton's other actresses, had to do what Milton referred to as "dirty work". At one of his parties, designed for actresses to do so, some of his friends (and more than likely Milton himself) "took advantage" of Rina. She gave birth to Roman Bridger, who she then put up for adoption. Rina left Hollywood because of what Milton had done to her. No charges were pressed, and Milton went on with his life until the studio came to him to produce Stab. While working on the film, which was related to the death of Maureen, he realized that he had known Maureen Prescott when she was a young actress. However, he feared the press that would come if anyone found out that he had ruined Maureen's life, so he kept quiet. Eventually, he became Roman's mentor in filmmaking, unaware that Roman was very possibly his son.

Scream 3

Milton produced Stab 3: Return to Woodsboro in 2000, which was directed by Roman. He was eventually confronted about his past by Gale Weathers and Jennifer Jolie. He admitted to them what he had done to Maureen. He reveals then that if he told anyone else that he knew Maureen now that his film cast was being killed off, it would just make him look suspicious. They are disgusted by Milton once they hear this.

Roman killed several people during a party at Milton's mansion and faked his death to further indue suspicion and tied Milton up, making him appear as if he was absent because he was the killer. After unmasking himself as Ghostface and revealing his past, Roman pulls Milton out of a closet and tells Sidney that he is the one to blame for Maureen Prescott's rape, as it happened right in Milton's mansion, meaning that Milton could have been responsible for the rape. Roman explains that Maureen never recovered from the rape and became a "slut". Roman then tells Sidney that he has used his voice changer to imitate Sidney's voice and recorded a message on Milton's answering machine, telling him that she is going to "make him pay". Milton desperately attempts to reason with Roman, promising him money, and even higher positions on the film and a "final cut". Roman laughs at his attempts and says "I already have it" before slashing his throat, killing him.

Behind the Scenes

• He was described as "a creepy fifty-something with penetrating eyes and a menacing demeanor" in the script.
• Milton is named after author and poet John Milton, who's Paradise Lost portrayed Eve's fall from grace, just as this character seduced Maureen Prescott.
• The events of the original trilogy can all be traced to Milton's actions with Maureen Prescott, who was the first victim of Ghostface.
• Roman Bridger blamed Milton for Maureen Prescott's rape. This has caused speculation and rumors about John Milton being Roman's biological father.