We all saw it coming, but that doesn't mean we wanted it to be true. Two-time Golden Globe nominee Patrick Dempsey has confirmed that he will not be reprising his role as Homicide Detective Mark Kincaid in the long-awaited Scream 7. This news comes only a few months after learning that Joel McHale joined the cast as Sidney Prescott's husband, Mark Evans.
If you remember from Scream 3, Sidney and Kincaid shared a budding romance, with much of their relationship development happening off-screen. In Scream (2022), it seemed like Sidney and Kincaid were still together, even married, when Dewey Riley mentioned Sidney's marriage to a man named Mark. However, it turns out that the "Mark" Dewey referred to was actually Mark Evans since that's who Sidney's husband is in the upcoming seventh installment.
After learning that McHale would be playing Sidney's husband, it was pretty much a given that Dempsey wouldn't be coming back. He wouldn't really have a purpose. Unfortunately, now we have that confirmation. In a new interview with Variety, Dempsey explained why things didn't align for his return. He told the news outlet that it all had to do with the California fires and scheduling issues.
"It just didn’t work out and we were dealing with the fires and everything that was going on and the schedule didn’t work out, unfortunately." - Patrick Dempsey
In October 2024, Dempsey told the Today show that he had been contacted about coming back to the horror franchise for its seventh film but was waiting on a script. As months went by with no announcement that he had officially joined the cast, fans began to speculate that he might've opted out or that his return had simply fallen through. Well, now we have the exact reason.
It sucks knowing that Dempsey could've been back on our screens as Mark in Scream 7, but there were circumstances outside of his control ultimately keeping him from joining the cast. This is a bittersweet revelation for fans who were hoping for his return.
Scream 7 will reportedly focus mainly on Neve Campbell's Sidney Prescott character. Scream creator Kevin Williamson directs from a screenplay written by Guy Busick. Besides Campbell returning as Sidney, other original cast members coming back are Courteney Cox as Gale, Matthew Lillard as Stu, and Scott Foley as Roman. Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown, who appeared in the fifth and sixth Scream movies as twin sibilngs, Chad and Mindy Meeks-Martin, will also return.
Additionally, Isabel May, Mark Consuelos, Asa Germann, Mckenna Grace, Sam Rechner, and Anna Camp join the franchise as new cast members. Scream 7 is scheduled to be released in theaters by Paramount Pictures on Feb. 27, 2026. Make sure to save this date!