Scream 7 started filming at the start of January, aiming for a February 27, 2026 release date, with Kevin Williamson, who wrote the screenplay for the original Scream, directing from a screenplay by 2022’s Scream and Scream VI writer Guy Busick, who crafted the story with his co-writer on the fifth and sixth films, James Vanderbilt. (Vanderbilt is also a producer on the most recent sequels.) You might think this would be a gig Williamson would have dove right into, but it turns out that star Neve Campbell had to do some convincing, and it was her idea to have him direct the movie in the first place!
Spyglass and Paramount once intended to make a Scream 7 that would have starred Scream (2022) and Scream VI leads Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega, with Freaky and Happy Death Day director Christopher Landon at the helm. But then Ortega allegedly asked for a substantial pay raise – and as we saw when Neve Campbell dropped out of Scream VI due to a pay dispute, these pay issues don’t tend to work out. Then Barrera was fired from the project after comments she made about the Israel-Hamas war didn’t go over well with executives at Spyglass. Landon dropped out of the project soon after. So Scream 7 has been re-developed, Campbell has signed on to return as franchise heroine Sidney Prescott, back in the lead role.
Neve Campbell is joined in the cast by Isabel May of the Yellowstone prequel 1883, who has signed on to play Sidney’s daughter; Mckenna Grace of the Ghostbusters franchise, Grace’s Ghostbusters co-star Celeste O’Connor, Gen V‘s Asa Germann, The Fabelmans‘ Sam Rechner, Pitch Perfect‘s Anna Camp, fellow franchise star Courteney Cox, who reprises the role of reporter / author Gale Weathers, Joel McHale (Community) as Sidney’s husband Mark Evans, Ethan Embry (The Devil’s Candy), Michelle Randolph (Landman), Jimmy Tatro (American Vandal), and Mark Consuelos (Riverdale). Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown are back as Chad Meeks-Martin and Mindy Meeks-Martin from Scream (2022) and Scream VI. There are multiple deceased characters in the cast as well: Matthew Lillard and Scott Foley, who played Ghostface killers who were killed off in Scream (1996) and Scream 3, respectively, and David Arquette, whose beloved character Dewey lost his life in Scream (2022), are all in there.
Speaking with Screen Rant, Williamson said his decision to direct the film came about because, “It was sort of, ‘Well, what’s going to happen?’ After we lost Melissa and Jenna, and it just looked like we weren’t going to see the Carpenter sisters in a third movie, it was kind of a bummer. It’s like, ‘What do we do next?’ And then this idea to bring Sidney Prescott back — and not just bring her back, but to focus on her character, tell her story of who she is today — that got really exciting for me. And I think other people got really excited about it. And then they started writing a script. Jamie came up with this great story — Jamie Vanderbilt and Guy Busick — and they started to write this script, and it just sort of took on a life of its own. And then Neve read it and heard the pitch, and she signed on. And I was still just the executive producer who was just sort of there, watching from the sidelines. And then Neve called me one day and said, ‘I think you should direct this.’ And I went, ‘No, no, no, no, no… okay, I’ll do it.’“
Williamson only has one previous directing credit, the 1999 dark comedy thriller Teaching Mrs. Tingle.
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