The First Plot Details for Scream 7 Are Out: “There Is a Really Specific Reason Why Sidney Is in This Movie.”
“Why now? What is the thing Scream is commenting on now?”
Scream 7 has come a long way over the last few years. The franchise was upended when Melissa Barrera was fired for voicing support for Palestine on her Instagram account. Amidst calls for a fan boycott, the future of the franchise was unclear as Barrera’s Sam Carpenter was the central character in the new installments and Scream VI hinted that she may turn into the franchise’s villain in the next film. Skeet Ulrich had even returned to goad her into following in his psycho killer footsteps.
Screenwriter Guy Busick talked to ComicBook.com earlier this week about what fans can expect to see in the next Scream sequel. He said it was sad to have to toss the work he had done on Scream 7 after a Spyglass exec suddenly fired Barrera. He and James Vanderbilt had envisioned another movie centered around the “core four” of Barrera, Jenna Ortega, Jasmine Savoy-Brown and Mason Gooding. After the firing, that script was unusable and a completely new story had to be created.
Slowly, Scream 7 began gaining fan trust back. First, by hiring franchise creator Kevin Williamson to direct (his first directorial work since 1999’s Teaching Mrs. Tingle, which he also wrote) and convincing Neve Campbell to return as Sidney Prescott. Then, production announced a series of killed-off fan favorites would be returning in some capacity: Matthew Lillard as Stu Macher, David Arquette as Dewey Riley and Scott Foley as Sidney’s half-brother Roman Bridger. Courtney Cox and half of the “core four”, Jasmine Savoy-Brown and Mason Gooding, will also reprise their roles as Gale Weathers and the Meeks-Martin twins. Finally, Roger L. Jackson will return as the iconic voice of Ghostface.
Busick said he doesn’t want to give much of the plot away, but that Sidney returns for an important reason in Scream 7. “There is a really specific reason why Sidney is in this movie. I will say there is a reason and we were happy with it when we cracked it.” What is that reason? Busick answered by asking horror fans to think about where the genre is at, and what a new Scream movie might satirize. “In all these movies, you have to ask, ‘Why now? What is the thing Scream is commenting on now?’ Scream is always in a conversation with the audience about the state of movies, the state of horror movies and in particular, franchises.”
The original Scream introduced the “rules of horror movies” and poked fun at genre tropes. Subsequent installments satirized toxic fans, sequels, trilogies, requels and legacy sequels (or “legacyquels”). Based on this, Scream 7 could be a commentary on current trends in horror like the rise of body horror (see the success of 2024’s The Substance), analog horror, viral marketing campaigns, FilmTok influencers, or even the trend of promotional popcorn buckets.
Other details that Busick dropped about Scream 7 are that it is not set in New York City and that it is an “unspecified” time after the events of Scream VI. It sounds like the timeline will a bit farther along than the two actual years that will have elapsed between the two films. The cast will also include Joel McHale as Sidney’s husband, Mark, and Isabel May as her daughter. Appearing in to-be-disclosed roles include: Anna Camp, Mark Consuelos, Ethan Embry, Asa Germann, Sam Rechner, Michelle Randolph, Jimmy Tatro, Celeste O’Connor and Mckenna Grace.
Scream 7 has a release date set for February 27, 2026.
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