It’s official, Scream VII has begun production, and director Kevin Williamson just couldn’t keep it to himself. Williamson, who wrote the first Scream film in 1996, shared the news in an ecstatic post on Instagram.
He said that he wasn’t really supposed to post about it, “but when you have one of the best days of your life it’s really hard to keep it to yourself.”
Williamson shouted out to Wes Craven, who directed the first film, lauding the “profound impact” the notable horror director had on his career.
Williamson has said the original Scream screenplay was inspired by the true crime story of Danny Harold Rolling, known as The Gainesville Ripper. Rolling was captured after murdering five Gainesville, Florida college students over a four day period in August of 1990. He later confessed to killing three additional people in Shreveport, Louisiana.
Scream was released in December of 1996, and wasn’t expected to become a huge success because of the grim subject manner and the holiday time release date. But it ended up being one of the highest-grossing films of that year, and actually rekindled the horror genre, which had become stagnant in the mid-1990s.
Scream was a fresh take on horror, with its perfect blend of meta humor and bloody violence. It also had the audacity to cast a big-name star in Drew Barrymore, then killed her off in the first ten minutes of the film, something that was very unusual.
Of course, there have been multiple sequels over the years, with Scream VI having been released in 2023. The two year gap between Scream VI and the upcoming Scream VII is due to multiple cast members being fired and dropping out, but it’s hoped that Williamson’s involvement will get everything back on track.
Which characters will return for Scream VII?
Neve Campbell will return to the storyline in the role of legacy character Sidney Prescott after skipping Scream VI, and Courteney Cox will also be back as Gale Weathers. Joining them are Scream (2022) and VI cast member Mason Gooding (who played Chad Meeks-Martin), and newcomers Isabel May (1883), Celeste O’Connor (Ghostbusters: Afterlife), Asa Germann (The Boys), McKenna Grace (The Haunting of Hill House), Sam Rechner (The Fabelmans) and Anna Camp (From Black, True Blood). May will be playing Sidney’s daughter.
Sadly, the fan favorite character of David Arquette’s Dewey will not be returning (unless it’s in flashbacks), because the writers chose to kill him off in the fifth chapter. In my opinion, it was a very bad choice, because Dewey provided a lot of heart to the franchise.
Scream VII is set to release in theaters on February 27, 2026.