In the original "Scream 2" script, Cotton was captured by the real Ghostface killers, Derek, Hallie and Mrs. Loomis. After Mrs. Loomis kills Derek and Hallie, she intends to frame Cotton for the recent murder spree, but he attacks and stabs her to death. He then tries to take revenge on Sidney for his false imprisonment, noting that the evidence points to him being an innocent victim. He and Sidney stab each other, but their fates have not been revealed. Following the leak of the script on the Internet, extensive rewrites were undertaken, changing this plot.