The news of Hayden Panettiere’s death at the age of 36 is still a shocking and developing story in Hollywood. The actress -- known for the Scream films, Heroes and Nashville -- was reportedly found in cardiac arrest in her home in Greenville, South Carolina on Sunday afternoon. She was pronounced dead at the scene. As of late, the actress had returned to acting after a four-year break and, this year, she revealed why she took that hiatus.

Back in April, Panettiere actually spoke to Us Weekly about her break, which started after she spent six seasons as the lead of the drama series, Nashville. That break ended when she returned to the Scream franchise to reprise the role of Kirby Reed. In her words:

I can understand why that time off would be so invaluable for Panettiere. She was essentially an actor her whole life, given she started working at the age of four. She famously voiced the character of Dot in Pixar’s second film, A Bug’s Life, as a young child star. Panettiere also memorably starred in Remember The Titans at the age of 10, playing the role of vivacious football fan Sheryl. Following Panettiere's death, fans have also been talking about her role in Ice Princess. She famously starred in that movie alongside Michelle Trachtenberg, who also unexpectedly died last year.

From 2018 to 2022, the Malcolm in the Middle alum didn't appear in any movies or TV show, so her reprisal of her Scream role was a welcome surprise at the time. From there, she headlined the video game Until Dawn and starred in a few more movies from 2023 up until her death. During the interview from just four months ago, she also said this:

In 2018, Panettiere decided to relinquish full custody of her daughter, Kaya, to her ex, Wladimir Klitschko, after suffering postpartum depression and struggling with addiction. That year, Panettiere also reportedly started dating Brian Hickerson, whom she had allegedly had an on-and-off relationship with until 2020.

Hickerson was arrested twice on domestic violence allegations in incidents involving Hayden Panettiere in 2019 and 2020. She also requested a restraining order against Hickerson in July of 2020. The actress opened up about her alleged violent incidents with Hickerson in her 2026 memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning.

Page Six reported that Panettiere and Hickerson reconciled earlier this year, but kept their friends “in the dark”. According to NBC News, Hickerson was at the scene on the day of her death and spoke to police about a “bag of medication” she was taking. Panettiere’s official cause of death is awaiting pending toxicology results.

In the meantime, many continue to mourn Hayden Panettiere and send well wishes to her family, friends and love ones. The impact that she made through her body of work is incredibly meaningful, and it feels like that the productions she starred in will be enjoyed for years to come. On that note, though, it's also comforting that she had the opportunity to step away from the industry at one point at her own leisure.

The horror genre has been thriving for years now, to the joy of fans like me. Some of the best horror movies returned to theaters with new sequels, including the Scream franchise (which is streaming with a Paramount+ subscription). But Wes Craven's 1996 original is still the most iconic, and Skeet Ulrich recently addressed a long-standing question about the Wes Craven classic.

Scream is one of the best horror franchises ever, and folks like me regularly re-watch them annually. There's nothing like the 1996 original, although fans are still wondering which Ghostface killed Rose McGowan's Tatum in that iconic garage scene. During a reunion panel at Midsummer Scream (via The Wrap) Ulrich was asked who killed Tatum, and he responded with:

Talk about a bummer. Despite how long moviegoers have been wondering about Tatum's death in Ghostface, it sounds like there is no concrete answer. Per Ulrich, neither the cast nor writer Kevin Williamson made it clear if Billy Loomis or Matthew Lillard's Stu Macher was the one who murdered Rose McGowan's character with a garage door. So I guess this mystery is going to stay alive for the time being.

McGowan was a truly iconic in the original Scream movie. What's more, her character Tatum was recently honored in Scream 7, with Sidney naming her daughter after her High School best friend. Alas, there's no indication as to who actually killed the beloved scream queen. Skeet Ulrich went on to say:

Add it to the list of Scream fan theories that are still plaguing the beloved slasher property. Along with the idea that Stu Macher is still alive, the question of which Ghostface actually killed Tatum is still around. And it's more than possible that we'll never get an actual answer.

Scream fans love to re-watch and dissect each movie, and figure out which of the killers is responsible for which character death. But when it comes to the very first movie in the franchise, an official answer may never come. Instead, folks can continue to the debate for the foreseeable future.

Personally, I always assumed that it was Stu who murdered his girlfriend in that iconic garage scene. He's noticeably missing prior to that going down, and I thought it would be especially brutal for him to betray Tatum in that way. On the flip side, other fans think that Stu would chicken out and Billy would be the one do murder her via a garage door.

The Scream franchise is streaming now on Paramount including Scream 7, which arrived as part of the 2026 movie release list. Since the movies are doing so well at the box office, we'll have to wait and see if/when an eighth movie is officially greenlit by the studio.

Netflix’s horror section is about to go through a pretty major franchise swap in July. If you have been meaning to revisit the Saw movies, you may want to start clearing some time, because a huge chunk of Jigsaw’s bloody legacy is leaving the streamer. The good news? Another horror icon returns to take Billy the Puppet's place just a few days later. We’re talking Ghostface people.

According to an official release, all eight Saw installments currently listed on the service will leave Netflix's streaming lineup on July 19. Then, on July 24, the service will add the first three Scream movies, which, for my money, are still the best when I’m ranking the series. More specifically, Wes Craven’s original Scream, Scream 2 and Scream 3 are all dropping for folks with a Netflix subscription.

That is a very funny trade for horror fans, if you ask me. One franchise built its reputation on grimy traps, moral tests and Tobin Bell’s eerie little puppet speeches. The other helped revive the slasher movie by combining horror with comedy and making the fans the targets with its meta commentary.

Depending on your taste, July is either a loss, a win or a perfect excuse to squeeze in two completely different horror marathons. The Saw departure is the bigger immediate news because Netflix is losing so much of the franchise at once. Eight movies are an entire pile of traps vanishing from the service in one day. For viewers who like watching horror series in order, July 19 is the date to circle in red marker because, obviously, after that, your chance is out the window. Those first eight installments are listed as follows:

• Saw
• Saw II
• Saw III
• Saw IV
• Saw V
• Saw VI
• Saw: The Final Chapter
• Jigsaw

The first Saw remains one of the great low-budget horror success stories of the 2000s, a nasty little thriller that gradually became the foundation for one of the genre’s most recognizable modern franchises. The sequels are more elaborate and increasingly tangled in timeline gymnastics, but that is part of the appeal. Half the fun is watching the franchise try to turn every grisly device into another piece of Jigsaw mythology.

While the loss of the Saw movies will undoubtedly sting many horror fans, the arrival of the original Scream trilogy softens the blow.

The first Scream is still a landmark slasher, and it remains one of the rare horror movies that is both genuinely scary and genuinely funny without either tone cannibalizing the other. Scream 2 is also one of the stronger horror sequels out there, building on the original’s meta premise while moving Sidney Prescott’s nightmare to college. Scream 3 is definitely the oddball of the trilogy, but even its Hollywood-set chaos has its defenders. Heck, I’m a fan of that movie far more than the rebooted trilogy's latest entry, the 2026 movie release Scream 7. I think the less said about that film, the better.

Netflix also has other horror-friendly titles coming and going in July, making the month feel a little like Halloween in midsummer. Krampus, Talk to Me and The Witch are set to arrive July 1, while Night of the Living Dead leaves July 4. Later in the month, Hannibal Seasons 1-3 hits the service July 27, followed by The Exorcism on July 28. So, needless to say, horror hounds will have plenty to enjoy on the streamer this summer even with the loss of the Saw films.

The horror genre has been experiencing a renaissance for years now, leading to some of the best horror movies returning to theaters with new sequels. That includes Scream, which has released three new movies in quick succession (streaming with a Paramount+ subscription). The seventh movie brought back Neve Campbell's Sidney Prescott, shortly after Melissa Barrera was fired from her role as Sam Carpenter. And the latter actress recently threw shade at Scream 7, as well as her co-stars who returned for the latest installment in the horror franchise.

While Melissa Barrera was the protagonist of the fifth and sixth Scream movies, she was fired by the studio due to her comments about the conflict between Hamas and Israel. Jenna Ortega later dropped out as Tara, but other members of the Core Four reprised their roles in Scream 7. During a conversation with Variety about her role in Titanique on Broadway, Barrera was asked it felt like her co-stars were "crossing the picket line" by returning for the seventh film. She responding resoundingly with:

Well, she certainly didn't mince her words. It sounds like she isn't happy about actors Jasmin Savoy Brown and Mason Gooding, who play Mindy and Chad Meeks-Martin, continuing their Scream tenures after her firing. While Brown spoke about missing Barrera ahead of filming Scream 7, she ultimately took the gig and made her third appearance in the slasher property. And it sounds like the In the Heights actress didn't appreciate that decision.

Aside from Gooding and Brown, the only other co-star who came back for Scream 7 was Courteney Cox. Although since she's been playing Gale Weathers since the 1996 original and is the only actor to appear in every single Scream movie, I'm not sure she's in the same category as the newer actors.

Melissa Barrera's interviewer went so far as to say that Scream 7 "sucked", with the actress responding with:

Talk about a conspiracy theory. When it was released Scream 7 broke box office records for the franchise, but it seems like Barrera doesn't believe that reporting. Although that doesn't mean she isn't proud of her time starring as final girl Sam Carpenter, as she continues to sign merchandise for fans who see her in Titanique.

The entire Scream franchise is streaming now on Paramount+, including Scream 7 which arrived earlier this year as part of the 2026 movie release list. We'll just have to wait and see if any of her co-stars respond to her soon-to-be-viral comments.

There are a handful of moments in Ti West’s wonderfully-received horror throwback film X that stick with me, but Jenna Ortega’s sudden, chaotic exit is easily one of the biggest. It’s the kind of scene that feels like it had to hurt to pull off, like someone really took a risk to sell it. But as it turns out, the magic of that moment comes down to timing and a classic Hollywood trick known as a “cowboy switch.”

Speaking on The Big Boy with Kid Cudi Podcast, Ortega breaks down how the scene actually comes together, revealing that what we’re seeing on screen, as her character sprints out the barn door and gets blasted down, is the result of a “cowboy switch,” also known as a “Texas switch,” a practical filmmaking technique that’s been around for decades. She explains:

It’s one of those filmmaking techniques that works best when you don’t notice it, like a sleight of hand trick. The camera keeps rolling, the movement never stops, and before you realize what’s happening, the switch has already been made.

Even more impressive? Kid Cudi, who also appears in X, didn't clock it at the time. He explains he wasn't always on set for those moments and assumes Ortega was doing the full stunt herself, which says a lot about how seamless the final shot looks. The Scream alum adds:

Those old-school practical effects are a big part of what makes the horror stick and is probably why X is still considered one of A24’s best horror movies. Fittingly, the “cowboy switch” gets its name from exactly where you’d expect.

What Is a Cowboy Switch, Anyway?

If the term sounds like something pulled straight out of the set of the best movie westerns, that’s because it basically is. The “cowboy switch,” or “Texas switch,” comes from classic Hollywood Westerns, where stunt performers swap places with actors mid-shot during horse chases, falls, or fights.

The key is keeping the camera moving. As long as the framing and motion stay consistent, the audience doesn’t notice the handoff. One second it’s the actor, the next it’s the stunt double, and the illusion holds because your eye never has time to catch the change. It’s simple, but pulling it off cleanly takes serious coordination.

Why It Works So Well in X

Ti West’s X leans heavily on practical effects and in-camera tricks, making it a movie throwback, which is part of what gives it its gritty, grounded feel. There’s a texture to it that you don’t always get when everything is smoothed out digitally. Using something like a cowboy switch fits right into that approach.

It keeps the action feeling real. There’s weight to it, timing to it, and just enough unpredictability that your brain buys what it’s seeing. Even once you know how the trick works, it doesn’t take away from the impact. If anything, it makes you appreciate it more.

These days, a lot of new horror movie moments get polished up in post-production, so it’s refreshing to see a film that goes back to basics and totally nails it. Even if Ortega doesn’t actually take that fall herself, it really feels like she does, and that’s what counts.

Ortega isn’t slowing down anytime soon. Her 2026 movie slate includes The Great Beyond, Klara and the Sun, and The Gallerist.

The horror genre's renaissance is showing no signs of slowing down, to the delight of fans like me. Some of the best horror movies have returned to theaters with new sequels, including Wes Craven's Scream. Drew Barrymore was famously killed off in the 1996 original, but she recently dropped an A+ way that her character could be brought back for an upcoming horror movie. Let's break it all down.

Scream continues to be one of the best horror franchises, and we've recently gotten three new movies in theaters (and streaming with a Paramount+ subscription). The seventh movie brought back a ton of dead legacy characters, and while speaking to Laurie Metcalf about her cameo on The Drew Barrymore Show, the E.T. star icon offered a way Casey Becker could return. In her words:

Honestly, I'm in. While the Scream movies have gone in deep about Sidney Prescott's backstory and her mother Maureen's history, they haven't done a deep dive on some of Ghostface's early victims. And it would be awesome to learn more about Casey's life prior to being the slasher franchise's opening victim.

The reason for Casey's murder only becomes obvious towards the end of the original Scream movie, when the identity of Ghostface(s) is revealed. It turns out that Stu was mad that she broke up with him to date Steve, which is why they were targeted in that iconic kill sequence. And the hardcore fans like me would no doubt enjoy seeing this dynamic play out.

Obviously this is unlikely, given that decades have passed since Drew Barrymore brought Casey to life (and death) in Scream. So either the role would need to be recast, or de-aging technology would need to be utilized in order to make this story come to life. Still, it's a fun entry point that I've got to tip my hat to Barrymore for.

Drew has played Casey a few times during her talk show's run, rocking that blonde wig and white sweater to great success. And now that Scream 7 included the return of Laurie Metcalf, Scott Foley, Matthew Lillard, and David Arquette, just about anything feels possible. So why not find a way to explore more of Casey Becker's story?

Scream 7 is still in theaters now as part of the 2026 movie release list, and the rest of the franchise is streaming over on Paramount+. We'll just have to wait and see if Drew Barrymore ever get to retun to the role of Casey on the big screen.

While it's still rather early days in the 2026 movie schedule, it's no secret that Ghostface's return to theaters recently was a big success, and it sounds like Paramount and Spyglass are wasting no time. Reportedly, Scream 8 is already in the works, and notably, the names being tapped to write the script seem to indicate the franchise could go into a new and interesting direction.

The big quote in Scream is "Do you like scary movies?" Of course, but per Deadline's report that Lilla and Nora Zuckerman are working on the Scream 8 script, it seems the question might be "Do you like whodunnits?"

See, the Zuckerman sisters are best known for being the showrunners on the Peacock mystery show Poker Face. I have to wonder if the hire means the franchise hopes to be more of a whodunnit dressed in a Ghostface mask, and you know what? I dig that.

Aside from Poker Face, which Peacock sadly pulled the plug on (but it could come back at some point with Peter Dinklage as the lead), the Zuckerman sisters have worked on a few other notable TV shows. They were producers on Haven, Suits, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D and Prodigal Son. Interestingly enough, none of those are horror projects. Perhaps, their closest dip into it was as producers on Buffy The Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale – you know, Hulu's Buffy show that was recently cancelled.

Another interesting development here is that the report does not include the producers of the last three Scream movies, James Vanderbilt & Guy Busick. I should note that those guys' production company, Radio Silence, currently has its hands wrapped up in The Mummy 4, starring Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz, set to be released in 2028. Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, who directed the 2022 and 2023 Scream installments, will helm the action-adventure sequel.

Now, I'm tentatively on board with the Zuckerman sisters hiring because I think it does feel like it's time for Scream to have a new angle. The last installment made a lot of money ($204 million worldwide against a $45 million production budget), but it also earned the lowest Rotten Tomatoes score of the franchise with a 31%.

CinemaBlend's own Scream 7 review gave the movie a terrifying 1.5 out of 5 stars, saying that the movie had him "solving half of the plot in the second act" and the only reason he didn't was "because it is complete nonsense". I wonder if feedback like this had the franchise going to writers proven to write a good mystery?

I don't think Scream would have been around for 30 years if it weren't for the whodunnit quality of the first one, so here's hoping the Zuckermans can revive some of that in Scream 8 with their hiring. There's no release date set, but we'll keep you updated as we learn more.

The horror genre's renaissance has been showing no signs of slowing down, to the joy of fans like me. Some of the best horror movies have returned with new sequels recently, including Wes Craven's Scream. Courteney Cox is the only actor who has appeared in every single movie of the franchise (streaming with a Paramount+ subscription), and yes, she knows how bad her infamous Scream 3 bangs are.

Scream 7 broke box office records, and is officially the highest grossing movie of the beloved horror franchise. It seems like the movie's promotional campaign paid off, and during that time Cox appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. In a clip from the show's Instagram, she admitted blame for Gale's infamous bangs from the threequel, saying:

Well, at least she's not honest. For better or worse Cox's bangs in Scream 3 are truly iconic, although they've been the butt of countless jokes in the decades since the movie's 2000 release. But the Friends star has a good sense of humor about it; Cox even rocked those microbangs during Halloween a few years ago. And she also took responsibility for their inception on the slasher sequel.

While speaking to Jimmy Fallon about Scream 7, the late night host and SNL alum was sure to gas Courteney Cox up and tell her that with her beautiful face she can rock any hair cut. She quickly responded to this bit of flattery, saying honestly:

In previous interviews, David Arquette took responsibility for the Scream 3 bangs. He claimed he encouraged his ex and co-star to go with a "Bettie Page" look, which is where the microbangs came in. Unfortunately that bold hairdo hasn't aged well in the years that have passed.

In the interview Jimmy Kimmel put on a wig with those bangs, giving him the look Gale Weathers rocked in the third Scream movie. But Cox didn't back down, going so far as to claim that:

They say any press is good press, and the discourse surrounding Gale's hair in Scream 3 has lasted over two decades at this point. Courteney Cox is one of the most iconic scream queen of all time... regardless of what her hair looks like in the slasher franchise. We'll just have to wait and see if an eighth movie is green lit and what Gale looks like in it.

Scream 7 is still in theaters now as part of the 2026 movie release list. Given how much money its made another sequel seems inevitable, but we'll have to wait and hear from Paramount one way or another.

The horror genre's renaissance isn't slowing anytime soon, with some of the best horror movies offering fans new sequels. That includes three new Scream movies, that have arrived in theaters and streaming with a Paramount+ subscription. The recent additions have featured a number of beloved legacy characters, but there's one I've been wanting to see killed off for years now: Heather Matarazzo's Martha Meeks.

Scream is one of the best horror franchises ever, and plenty of A+ talent has appeared throughout the course of its tenure in theaters. The 2022 movie brought back Matarazzo as Martha, the mother of Core Four members Chad and Mindy Meeks-Martin. She hasn't been seen since, and I personally think that Matarazzo would be an excellent opening kill for an upcoming horror movie.

Heather Matarazzo's Martha Meeks Being An Opening Kill Would Be Epic

I've written about wanting to see Heather Matarazzo be the opening kill in a Scream movie for a few years now. Martha has basically had two cameos in the franchise so far; she delivered Randy's posthumous video in Scream 3 and then was shown hosting Chad, Mindy and their friends in the 2022 film. But she hasn't actually gotten into the horror of the franchise yet, and I think that Ghostface targeting Martha would be a great way to bring back another legacy character, and also raise the stakes for the twins.

When Martha popped up in the fifth Scream movie I was thrilled as a longtime fan. Matarazzo is an excellent actress who has appeared in a number of movies I love through the years, including Welcome to the Dollhouse, the Princess Diaries movies, and Saved!. I always wanted to see more of Martha, and she was endlessly charming in her brief scene years back. So, why not let her finally come face to face with Ghostface like the other members of her family?

As a hardcore horror fan, I also want to see Matarazzo get into the action because of her history in the genre. Aside from playing Martha in the Scream movies, she famously starred in both The Devil's Advocate and Hostel: Part II. Her death in the latter movie is one of the franchise's best kills, and I'd love to see her flex those muscles again in a Scream sequel.

I also think that Martha would be a great opening kill because of the way it might influence the characters of Chad and Mindy. The Meeks-Martin twins have been scene-stealers throughout the last three movies, often providing comedic beats. But, if their mother was killed by Ghostface I think it would activate them in a way we haven't seen yet.

Scream 7 broke records at the box office, so it seems likely that we'll get another movie from Paramount. Fingers crossed that Martha comes back. For now, the seventh movie is still in theaters as part of the 2026 movie release list.

Major Spoilers ahead for Scream 7.

It's a great time to be a horror fan, as the genre is in the midst of a thrilling renaissance. Many of the best horror movies have returned to theaters with new sequels, including Wes Craven's Scream. The seventh movie was one of the most highly anticipated upcoming horror movies at the start of the year, and it's been breaking records at the box office. There's been a ton of discourse around the Ghostface killers, and one actor revealed the wild way he found out he was one of the movie's villains.

Scream is one of the best horror franchises ever, and fans have been treated to three movies in quick succession in theaters (and streaming with a Paramount+ subscription). There were three killers in the most recent installment, one of which was Ethan Embry's Marco Davis. During a conversation with EW, the actor spoke about the franchise's security. He thought he might be one of the Ghostfaces but wasn't sure, sharing:

Ever since the 1996 original, the Scream franchise has been trying to guard its secrets and spoilers so that fans don't know the identity of the masked killer. Many movies have changed who the villain was after the cast signed on, so Embry kept keeping his head down and hoping for the best for this role in the seventh film.

So exactly how did the Grace & Frankie star find out that he was going to be one of the movie's main killers? Later in that same interview, he revealed it was actually during a costume fitting, where he had to put on Ghostface's robes for the first time. As he put it:

Talk about mind blowing. It wasn't the script or director Kevin Williamson that broke the news to Ethan Embry. Instead it was literally being fitted for Ghostface's signature costume that he found out he'd be one of the killers of the seventh Scream movie. Now that is some tight security.

Embry's character Marco had limited screen time before the Ghostface reveal, appearing as an employee at a nearby mental institution. One can only imagine how hyped he was to get to be one of the killers, and get that thrilling third act reveal

Scream 7 is in theaters now as part of the 2026 movie schedule. While the movie got a mixed response from critics, the audience score and box office numbers paint a different story. Hopefully that means that we'll be getting another installment sooner rather than later.

Spoiler warning: I’m about to get into some major Scream VII details. If you haven’t seen it yet and want to go in fresh, now’s your chance to bail.

For years, fans have been begging for Matthew Lillard’s Stu Macher to somehow claw his way back into the Scream franchise. Yes, he had a television dropped on his head in Scream (1996), but I’ve always argued passionately that he could have survived. Even the best Horror villains have come back from far worse. Stu was even rumored to return in Scream 3 before that idea was scrapped, and ever since, the “Stu lives” truthers have refused to let it go. Now, nearly 30 years later, that long-running wish has been granted… sort of. Apparently, Stu’s ultimate fate can be blamed on Scream VII test audiences.

Stu does appear in Scream VII, but only through AI, because canonically, he’s still dead. And here’s the kicker: they actually filmed a version for the 2026 movie release where he was alive. In a recent interview with Esquire, director and longtime franchise writer Kevin Williamson revealed they shot an alternate ending that left the door open, only to scrap it after test audiences weighed in. As Williamson explained:

Thanks a lot, test audiences. You’re apparently the reason we got, and this is purely my personal take, the slightly groan-inducing reveal that all the returning Ghostface killers were the result of AI deepfakes. Cue the collective eye roll.

When pressed on the decision, Kevin Williamson explained that keeping Stu alive would have pushed believability a little too far, even for Scream. As much as fans love the idea, he argued that faking someone’s image with AI feels more plausible in today’s world than revealing Stu somehow survived a television to the skull. When asked directly whether audiences preferred Stu to stay dead, Williamson responded:

Not to belabor the point, but I feel compelled to gently remind Mr. Williamson that the last two Scream films featured full-blown hallucinations — or ghostly visions, depending on your interpretation- of Billy Loomis guiding his daughter around like a morally compromised Obi-Wan Kenobi. Was that the most grounded storytelling choice? Debatable. But if we could collectively suspend disbelief for that, I’m fairly confident audiences could’ve handled Stu limping back into the franchise.

Instead, we got an AI twist that — again, just my take — didn’t quite land. And if the alternative was Matthew Lillard chewing scenery one more time in the real world? I know which version I’d pick.

What makes it even more fascinating is that Scream VII managed to power through some of the roughest reviews in franchise history and still delivered the biggest opening weekend the series has ever seen. That’s no small feat. The real question is whether that momentum holds once word of mouth fully kicks in. From the fans I’ve talked to, I’m far from alone in feeling underwhelmed by how this chapter handled its big reveals.

CinemaBlend’s own Eric Eisenberg handed the film a one-and-a-half-star review, and early critical reactions were fairly brutal across the board. Which raises an interesting possibility: did the film’s massive debut have anything to do with the buzz surrounding Matthew Lillard’s involvement? If that curiosity factor drove ticket sales, it’ll be very telling to see how the rest of the theatrical run shakes out once audiences discover exactly how Stu is — and isn’t — used in this latest installment of the long-running horror saga.

If you’d rather decide for yourself how Matthew Lillard’s fan-favorite killer is handled, Scream VII is still playing in theaters. Check your local listings and see it firsthand. And while you’re at it, take a look at our roundup of new and upcoming horror movies to map out your next big-screen scare.

The Naked Gun’s return in 2025 was a reminder of how amazing spoof movies can be, so it was beyond exciting when Marlon Wayans announced that his own parody franchise would rise from the grave as the sequel Scary Movie 6. After more than a year of fans waiting to see what the creative team cooked up, the first trailer arrived in theaters attached to — what else? — Kevin Williamson’s critically maligned Scream 7, and now it’s finally arrived online.

As seen above, lots of returning stars are in the mix — Regina Hall’s Brenda is so back alongside Anna Faris' Cindy Campbell — and the new movie is taking aim at a slew of horrors that have shifted the culture over the past decade or so. (And one can only hope upcoming horror movies are on the table for a potential seventh movie.)

The trailer kicks off with a subway train full of mask-wearing riders, and doesn't immediately reveal itself as a Scary Movie promo. But that doesn't last very long, with a dancing M3gan taking off a mask to unveil the smiling Ghostface himself (the correct pronoun in this case). And all in front of a poster for "Okay Bloomers Florists." Rim shot.

The trailer goes for broke with the number of movies we already get to see spoofed. And vibing with the initial logline claiming the Wayans were going after cancel culture with this sequel, the promo does feature all manner of sexuality jokes. From the Sinners-esque trio offering to do some "half-gay s--t" to the spinning wheel's "Truth, Dare or Gay Shit" option to having Cindy use a pair of floppy dildos to take Ghostface down. And then to fill him up. Just look at that other Ghostface watching in the corner, that freak.

You just can't unsee some things, and that one counts.

Elsewhere in the trailer, we have Scary Movie franchise vet Chris Elliott portraying a mocked-up version of Nicolas Cage's Longlegs killer, complete with the gnarliest knuckles I've ever seen.

What else do we have here? The subway car by itself has so many references, from Hellraiser's Pinhead to Halloween's Michael Myers to Heart Eyes' titular killer, even if theyre all costumes and not necessarily used as jokes right away. We have Ghostface showing up at the house "Tuesday," who rocks Wednesday Addams' pigtails, but without her all-black garb. Marlon Wayans' Shorty gets sent down into the Sunken Place (or whatever this franchise's version of that is) by Ghostface, and I really hope that's not cotton all over the room.

There's a Smile bit involving a bedpan, a car smashing into a costumed child running like one of the Weapons' kids, a send-up of The Substance that also brings to mind the 1985 cult classic The Stuff. And I can only hope Faux Art the Clown becomes a regular member of this group. I'd give him a hand, but he already took mine. OH SNAP. (Except I can't, because of the hand thing.) I do wonder if David Howard Thornton himself was brought in to play Art in the Terrifier 3-spoofing scene.

Give the trailer one or two rewatches, since there are definitely gags included that won't be picked up on the first viewing. And then protect your butts (or don't), as Cindy and the rest of the Scary Movie 6 posse will be hitting theaters on June 12.

Last weekend's box office results were far from impressive. While the industry saw a nice spike around Valentine's Day earlier in the month, with Emerald Fennell's Wuthering Heights leading the market, my report last Sunday was all about how the industry offered few intriguing new options in wide release – allowing Tyree Dillihay's GOAT to rise to the number one spot in the Top 10. In my feature recapping the numbers, I noted that it appeared as though Hollywood was basically paving a path for Kevin Williamson's Scream 7 to dominate at the end of the month, and seven days later, that's exactly what has happened.

The slasher sequel was the only new wide release to arrive in theaters this past Friday, and it used all of its breathing room to put up the biggest opening weekend of the 2026 movie calendar so far. It's huge news for the blockbuster, but it comes with a bit of an asterisk, as while the success is massive by franchise standards, the overall reception hasn't exactly been something for the filmmakers and stars to brag about. You can check out the full Top 10 below and join me after for analysis.

Scream 7 Steamrolls The Competition At The Box Office With Big Results Worldwide

You know an opening weekend is successful when it proves to basically double the previous record holder for the year, and that's precisely what Scream 7 has accomplished – per early reporting from The Numbers. Current results put the Neve Campbell-led movie at $64.1 million earned domestically since it arrived on the big screen on Friday, and that's quite a lot more than the 2026 record-setting $32.8 million made by Wuthering Heights when it debuted a couple weeks ago.

Not just impressive by the standards of the young year, Scream 7 is also doing well to outperform ever single one of its predecessors, and it's the second title in a row from the series to accomplish that particular feat. In 2023, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett's Scream VI set a new opening weekend record for the franchise, earning $44.4 million and topping the $34.7 million made by Wes Craven's Scream 3 in 2000. Now Kevin Williamson's new release sits on top of the charts in that respect.

The success goes beyond the ticket sales in the United States and Canada too. In addition to the $64.1 million earned at home, foreign markets have contributed $33.1 million to the theatrical release's success, bringing its worldwide total after three days up to $97.2 million. It has already outgrossed the aforementioned Scream 3, which completed its global run on the big screen making $96 million. Wes Craven's original Scream, now just about nine months away from its 30th anniversary, still remains the highest grossing title in the franchise, having made $173 million in 1996/1997 (and that's without accounting for inflation). It should go without saying that there will be a lot of interest in seeing if Scream 7 can be the title to dethrone it.

The big thing standing in the film's way? One word: reception.

Scream 7 may now hold an IP record for the biggest opening weekend, but it seems that accomplishment comes in spite of word of mouth instead of as a result of it. The reaction from critics (arriving very late last week) came in sharp contrast to the response earned by its two predecessors in the franchise's current era, which earned praise for keeping the spirit of the Wes Craven series alive following the filmmaker's passing back in 2015. The reactions to the Kevin Williamson-directed entry have been far less friendly (I personally delivered a one-and-a-half star Scream 7 review for CinemaBlend).

It's not just critics either, as audience ratings are also down for the new release. Audience scores on Rotten Tomatoes are lower for the 2026 slasher film than the response to either 2022's Scream or Scream VI, and that pattern continues when one looks at the results from CinemaScore surveys: the new movie got a "B-" grade which ties Scream 4 for the weakest in the series (1997's Scream 2, 2022's Scream and 2023's Scream VI hold a three-way tie for the best grade with their "B+" results). This doesn't suggest that people are coming out of their local theater suggesting that all of their friends partake in the same cinematic experience.

What does this mean? While nothing is ever guaranteed, these metrics suggest that Scream 7 may have a tough go of it in March and have difficulty retaining its audience in the weeks ahead. Franchise curiosity, the mystery surrounding the identity/identities of the new Ghostface/s, and the return of Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott may have inflated ticket sales for the debut, but now that people have seen it and not loved what they've seen I imagine we're going to see a significant drop-off come next Sunday.

The second weekend numbers will be one thing I keep an eye on next week, especially because the film should be getting some significant competition in wide release with the debut of Daniel Chong's Hoppers – the latest feature from Pixar and the latest title to try and continue the successful trend of animation on the big screen (following in the wake of GOAT and Byron Howard and Jared Bush's Zootopia 2, which was recently crowned the 2025 domestic box office champion). There will be plenty to discuss in seven days when the new Top 10 is published, so be sure to head back here to CinemaBlend for my full break down of the results.

When director Wes Craven and screenwriter Kevin Williamson first launched the Scream franchise back in the mid-1990s, the horror genre was in a bad place. While some good movies were still being made, the 1980s was a decade that was partially defined cinematically by its glut of slasher franchises that long outlived their welcome, and Scream came together as a post-modern commentary on how rote and formulaic the storytelling had become.

It was perhaps a touch hypocritical when sequels started to get quickly produced, but what set the movies apart was a continued meta awareness to go along with all of Ghostface’s nasty business. Some of the titles are stronger in this respect than others, but that element has long been viewed as a staple element as the franchise and survived two long production gaps: the 11 years between Scream 3 and Scream 4, and the 11 years between Scream 4 and 2022’s Scream. Through six films, the series dynamically set itself apart as fun and gory satire. But that era is now over.

With Scream 7, the franchise has become exactly what the original set out to parody – and the fact that the movie has Kevin Williamson at the helm comes across as a cruel irony.

The film had a controversial and complicated path through production, with the firing of Melissa Barrera causing uproar from fans, and co-star Jenna Ortega and hired director Christopher Landon departing the project in the aftermath. In retrospect, it would have been much better had Scream 7 simply be shelved instead of plowing forward. It boasts a number of returning stars from the original movie – most notably Neve Campbell, back as Sidney Prescott after being absent from Scream 6 – but it does nothing but poison a remarkable big screen legacy with its terrible and obvious plotting, contributing nothing as a fresh franchise entry beyond continuing to torture its principal scream queen.

(Out of respect for the movie-going experience, I won’t provide any spoilers in this review, but I feel compelled to say that any curiosity I may inspire in the film is involuntary, as I can’t recommend strongly enough staying away and just imagining that the horror series concluded with the previous installment.)

In Scream 7, the aforementioned Sidney Prescott is actually now Sidney Prescott-Evans, living in the small town of Pine Grove, Indiana, married the local chief of police (Joel McHale), running a coffee shop, and parenting a teenager named Tatum (Isabel May). (She has younger kids as well, but the movie awkwardly shuttles them away via expository video chat in Act I). While going about her daily business, she gets a call from somebody using the Ghostface voice changer (Roger L. Jackson), and while she initially thinks it's nothing more than a typical hoax, things take a turn for the strange when the conversation switches to video and she sees the face of an older and scarred Stu Macher (Matthew Lillard) – who is supposed to be long dead.

A new rash of local Ghostface killings follow with Sidney and her daughter at the epicenter of the chaos, and when Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) arrives in town with Mindy Meeks-Martin (Jasmin Savoy Brown) and Chad Meeks-Martin (Mason Gooding) in tow, an investigation begins into whether or not Stu could possibly still be alive.

The writing and construction of Scream 7 swings between obvious and baffling.

While keeping possibility that one of the original Ghostface killers has been resurrected in doubt, the movie goes through the motions establishing a collection of potential alternate suspects (mostly consisting of Tatum’s teenage friends/boyfriend); creates mother/daughter tension because of the former opting to stay mum in discussions about her past; and it broaches the subject of artificial intelligence/deepfakes as a threat. And it all feels tired and uninspired. Despite the presence of talented actors, there are zero interesting personalities within the ensemble of suspects; the “closed off parent” angle feels like the least creative way to yet again explore Sidney’s trauma; and the inclusion of A.I. in the plot is essentially just the next step after the use of ridiculous magic voice changer in Scream 3 that could imitate anyone in the world.

The only thing even vaguely resembling a meta reference is an off-handed line from Mindy about “nostalgia,” and it isn’t explored in any way beyond a bunch of purely fan service cameos that fans already know are coming because of leaks during production.

It also needs to be bluntly said: while the Scream movies haven’t always featured the most intricate mysteries in cinema, Scream 7 is the first title in the franchise that had me solving half of the plot in the second act – and the only reason I didn’t put the pieces together for the second half of the mystery is because it is complete nonsense.

The upped gore factor is one of the few things enjoyable about Scream 7.

The one credit that I’m willing to give Scream 7 is its functionality when it comes to scares – but even this is praise that comes with reservations. Without saying too much, there is one sequence that I would consider an all-timer Ghostface kill, and I’ll even go as far as to give Williamson credit for willing to incorporate some legitimate splatter. And there are a couple of clever misdirects, including one in the opening scene with a classic “What’s your favorite scary movie?” phone call.

But those are fleeting bits surrounded by bad choices and questions ultimately left unanswered, like “Why do Sidney and Tatum at one point flee into a panic room only to immediately leave it two seconds later?” and “Why doesn’t the opening kill have any correlation with anything else going on in the plot?” This is the kind of bad writing and sequencing that one expects from a typical late-in-a-series slasher sequel, but not in Scream.

And that’s apparently where we are now. After decades of standing apart within the pool of horror franchises, Scream 7 sees the series become what the original was designed to parody. It’s not the first bad movie in the canon, as that credit goes to Scream 3, but it is the first to betray its purpose and play as little more than a cash grab taking advantage of beloved a intellectual property.

MAJOR SPOILERS are hiding behind every corner and closet door below, so BE WARNED if you haven’t yet watched Scream 7 in its entirety.

The first big whodunnit on the 2026 movie schedule has arrived, though the deaths at the heart of Scream 7 were a tad too morbid for the likes of highbrow detectives like Benoit Blanc or Hercule Poirot. No, these were the kinds of ghastly murders only a Scream Queen Final Girl could possibly stop, so it’s a good thing Scream franchise vet Neve Campbell made her return as Sydney, with O.G. screenwriter Kevin Williamson taking the reins as writer and director.

As it goes with every Scream movie, there are killers to unmask, victims to talk about, and returning stars to point out. This is perhaps the first time I feel like this franchise sets up a good spinoff route, though, so I'll get into that as well.

Who Is Scream 7's Killer(s), And Why Were They Targeting Sydney?

For the majority of Scream 7's runtime, viewers are led to the baffling belief that Stu Macher survived the TV-to-the-head death in the original film, and that he's now hellbent on torturing Sydney anew. The fact that Matthew Lillard's secretive return was well-documented made it seem strangely plausible, as did Ghostface burning the murder-honoring Macher home down in the opening sequence.

Alas, Stu has indeed been gone a long time, and Scream 7 delivers a whopping THREE killers for the characters to run from.

1. Karl Gibbs (Kraig Dane): a woman-murdering mental patient who is coerced into murdering others as Ghostface
2. Jessica Bowden (Anna Camp): Sydney's seemingly tight-knit neighbor, as well as the mother (and murderer) of the true-crime-loving Lucas
3. Marco Davis (Ethan Embry): an orderly at the Fallbrook Psychiatric Hospital who meets Jessica and ropes Karl into the plans (and whose gnarly hairline was an instant giveaway that he's guilty of something awful)

Karl was killed around the end of the first act, leaving the mystery open until the late-game villain reveal, during which audiences got to hear a lengthy explanation from Jessica Bowden about why she put so much effort into ruining Sydney's life.

Jessica suffered for years at the hands of an abusive husband but, after reading Sydney Prescott's autobiography (whose promotional tour was at the center of Scream 4), was inspired to also step up and take control of her existence, albeit in the form of murdering her hateful hubby. But when Sydney wasn’t around for the New York killings that her son was most recently obsessing over, Jessica began to think her Final Girl worship was misguided.

Jessica landed herself at Fallbrook Psychiatric Hospital in Pine Grove, Indiana after learning that Sydney was living there. (It’s not entirely clear how she did all this with Lucas in her care.) Jessica then managed to secure the house next to Sydney’s, where she was able to enact her grand plan of setting Sydney’s daughter Tatum up as a NEW Final Girl.

Kevin Williamson talked about going less meta and self-referential on the whole with Scream 7, so that the focus could be more squarely put on Sydney’s legacy, further informing Jessica’s motivations from a creative standpoint. The sequel’s themes also leaned heavily into nostalgia as a driving force, as well as generational trauma, with Isabel May’s Tatum getting her survival skills constantly tested throughout the movie.

For their parts, both Marco and Karl seem to have just gone along with Jessica’s flow as opposed to having any directly personal vendettas involving Sydney’s family. Because of that, this was one of the worst killer reveals of the franchise in my eyes.

All Those Scream Franchise Cameos, Explained

Anyone hoping for Stu Macher’s miraculous survival was in for disappointment, as it became clear as the movie went on that the character making video calls to Sydney wasn’t actually one-half of the first Ghostface killings, but rather the result of AI deepfake trickery. To be sure, Matthew Lillard’s unhinged performance was everything this movie needed, so even if the explanation didn’t lead to him showing up in the flesh, it was a win all the same.

The digital manipulation was crafted by ol’ Marco, who apparently had a background in computers and IT work that helped him absolutely NAIL what Stu would both look and sound like, without any forms of digital artifacts or other evidence of fakery. (And yet was still working in that hospital instead of doing anything in the tech sector, okay, sure.)

Unsurprisingly, this is also how the rest of Scream 7’s cameos came to be. Just before the big reveals, Sydney watched a bizarrely staged video that included a final performance from Matthew Lillard, as well as a pair of fellow former Ghostfaces in Laurie Metcalf’s Nancy Loomis and Scott Foley’s Roman Bridger. The final callback was David Arquette’s Dewey Riley tugging at Sydney’s heartstrings and drawing out more of her fury.

A List Of Scream 7's Victims

• Scott (Jimmy Tatro) - stabbed multiple times, burned in house fire
• Hannah Turman (Mckenna Grace) - Sliced open and gutted as she swung from ropes during theater rehearsal at school
• Karl Gibbs (Kraig Dane) - hit by Gale’s car
• Chloe Parker (Celeste O’Conner) - neck impaled by broken bar glasses after Ghostface slid her across the bartop and onto the ground
• Lucas Bowden (Asa Germann) - stabbed and head impaled on beer tap, with bloody suds spurting from his mouth
• Ben Brown (Sam Rechner) - stabbed various times through the chest and other areas
• Marco Davis (Ethan Embry) - shot through the head by Sydney
• Jessica Bowden (Anna Camp) - face is literally shot off by Sydney and Tatum

The Mid-Credits Sequence Sets Up The Spinoff I Want To See Instead Of Scream 8

With Sydney's legacy still intact, along with the safety of her (injured) husband and three children, the Scream movies don't really need to continue going, even though it would likely take armageddon itself to stop Paramount from producing more sequels. That said, I do think Scream 7 sets up a magnificent route to a spinoff led by Jasmin Savoy Brown's and Mason Gooding's Mindy and Chad Meeks-Martin, respectively.

We're talking about a different kind of legacy here, with Mindy primed to follow in the investigative journalist footsteps of Courteney Cox's Gale Weathers, with Chad as the dutiful cameraman. (Not necessarily the safest job to have in these movies, but still.) The movie didn't hinge entirely on the twins trying to take that mantle, but the ending and mid-credits sequence do indeed lay the groundwork for a spinoff feature.

Instead of having yet another Ghostface return, a Scream offshoot could follow Mindy and Chad (and possibly Gale) investigating a wholly different kind of mysterious killer, and under completely different circumstances. That would allow the creative teams to play up other genre motifs and canonical lore without being beholden to the iconism of Ghostface.

Fingers crossed someone higher up at Paramount hears my beckoning and makes it happen. Until then, the Scream franchise is available to stream via a Paramount+ subscription.

The horror genre's renaissance is showing no signs of slowing down, to the joy of fans like me. Some of the best horror movies have released new sequels, including Wes Craven's Scream. The iconic horror franchise has just released a seventh movie, with Neve Campbell returning as Sidney Prescott. She recently offered her take on which Ghostface kill was the most brutal, and I think she's pretty spot on.

What we know about Scream 7 has been limited, but that'll change as it hits theaters this weekend. We've seen a ton of gnarly kills throughout the franchise (which is streaming with a Paramount+ subscription), and during a conversation with MTV Campbell revealed which one stood out the most to her. In her words:

Points were made. While Rose McGowan's Tatum didn't get stabbed by Ghostface in the first movie, her death was pretty gnarly. While her trying to escape through the cat door was fodder for jokes in Scary Movie, seeing her head get crushed is disturbing. And it's clearly stuck with Campbell after all these years.

Tatum's death was definitely a memorable one, although there have been some other super violent murders since then. Dewey's death in the 2022 movie was chilling, as he was disemboweled by Ghostface in the hospital. Then there's Olivia Morris from Scream 4, who was stabbed over and over again until her entire bedroom was covered in blood. Those are probably the three most brutal in my opinion, but the seventh movie might change that.

Clearly Tatum has been on the mind for Campbell, especially since that's what Sidney named her daughter in Scream 7. It's a sweet nod to Rose McGowan's legacy in the first movie, as well as the last true friend that the iconic final girl. And the footage from the new movie also shows that Sidney talks about her childhood friend in an interview with Gale Weathers.

It should be fascinating what Kevin Williamson brings to the new Scream movie. He wrote the first two films, and has been around as an EP for the more recent titles. But the seventh one is the first time he's directing an installment of the beloved slasher property.

Scream 7 is in theaters now as part of the 2026 movie release list. The pressure is on for it to deliver, but with Neve Campbell back as Sidney, I have a feeling longtime fans will show up at the theater.

Do you like scary movies? Well, actually, you really only need to like one specific scary movie to ace this week's movie quiz. In anticipation of Scream 7 arriving on the 2026 movie schedule, I've dedicated this multiple choice quiz entirely to the movie that started it all. With this quiz, we give you the quote, and you guess which Scream character said it.

If you're taking this quiz, I'm assuming you're a Scream fan. But just in case, know that there are major spoilers from the first Scream movie in the quiz below!

It’s been three years since we last checked in with one of the best horror franchises, and it definitely hasn’t been an easy road. Scream 7 lost Jenna Ortega and Melissa Barrera as the Carpenter sisters, changed directors and experienced filming delays. But at long last, here we are, with Neve Campbell making her triumphant return to the Scream franchise. Critics saw the flick ahead of its February 27 release, so let’s see what they’re saying about it.

Sidney Prescott will once again be at the forefront of all the stabby action when Scream 7 premieres on the 2026 movie calendar, but she’s far from the only familiar face we’ll see. In addition to Courteney Cox, Mason Gooding, Jasmin Savoy Brown and others reprising their roles, we’ll get the return of previous Ghostface killers Matthew Lillard and Scott Foley, as well as plenty of new characters. Pete Hammond of Deadline celebrates Kevin Williamson’s direction, saying the horror movie is “wickedly entertaining and sweetly nostalgic.” The critic writes:

Other critics, however, are less than enthusiastic about the upcoming horror movie. Rating the film 3 stars out of 5, NME’s Lou Thomas says Scream 7 is still worth the watch with its references, looping circumstances and tricks. However, when it comes to franchise’s seventh movies — like Wes Craven’s New Nightmare, which was basically a Scream forerunner — this film isn’t anywhere near as noteworthy. Thomas continues:

Owen Gleiberman of Variety says Scream 7 gets back to the basics — emphasis on “basic” — as he wonders if anyone even cares who Ghostface is? The critic points out that the movie largely drops the franchise’s signature meta commentary, explaining:

William Bibbiani of The Wrap also says Kevin Williamson seems desperate to get back to the basics, as if the previous two “pretty darn good” movies had whiffed it. It ends up feeling like more of a feature-length celebration of (and apology to) Neve Campbell in what the critic says is a competent but uninspired sequel. Bibbiani writes:

Frank Scheck of THR says to put a knife in this franchise, because it’s done — if not commercially than definitely creatively. The mechanics of the franchise have become “numbingly familiar,” and regardless of who ends up behind the Ghostface mask (or if the trailers give any hints), it’s a letdown. Scheck continues:

While the critics aren’t jumping to call the seventh Scream film the best of the bunch, even many of those who have complaints are still saying the movie’s worth seeing — especially if you’ve already invested in the first six. If you’re pumped about Scream 7’s mix of legacy characters and new cast members, you can check this one out starting Friday, February 27.

While scary movies are thriving right now, some of the best horror movies are in the rear view. Chief among them the first two Scream movies, directed by late filmmaker Wes Craven. The first sequel came out back in 1997, and featured an all-star cast including Jerry O'Connell. And he recently took to social media to explain his cringe-worthy singing in Derek's musical number.

Scream is one of the best horror franchises, with new movies still being made today (and streaming with a Paramount+ subscription). The first two installments continue to be fan favorites, although Jerry O'Connell's vocal stylings as his character belted out "I Think I Love You" to Sidney have left something to be desired. Over on Twitter the actor/host explained how he approached that sequence, offering:

Well, at least the Stand By Me actor has a good sense of humor about this sequence. And his perspective does help to offer some much-needed context; he wasn't trying to sound good. Instead, he thought it would be more endearing if Derek sounded bad. After all, the character wasn't a trained singer, he was a college student and frat bro.

O'Connell offered this BTS tidbit in response to a tweet that praised Scream 2 as a great horror sequel. Derek was a red herring for the identity of Ghostface, and ended up being brutally murdered in front of Neve Campbell's Sidney Prescott in the final battle. He's just one of a few Scream boyfriends who didn't end up being the killer.

I have to wonder if Derek will end up referenced in the franchise's next installment. What we know about Scream 7 is limited, but it'll seemingly focus on Sidney Prescott's trauma and history in the franchise. A number of dead characters have been confirmed to somehow return including Matthew Lillard's Stu Macher, David Arquette's Dewey Riley, and Scott Foley's Roman Bridger. In the Scream 7 trailer Sidney's daughter Tatum was shown wearing her jacket from Scream 2, so Derek being name dropped definitely seems possible.

Luckily for fans of the long-running franchise, our questions should be answered shortly. Scream 7 is nearly upon us, and the studio has been good about promoting the film without giving away any spoilers. So if Jerry O'Connell is either seen or referenced it'll be a big surprise.

All will be revealed when Scream 7 hits theaters on February 27th as part of the 2026 movie release list. As for Jerry O'Connell, he can be seen in the upcoming series S.W.A.T. Exiles.

The horror genre has been experiencing a renaissance for years, and it's been a joy for fans like me. Some of the best horror movies returned to theaters with new sequels, including Wes Craven's Scream. The seventh movie will be in theaters shortly, and is one of the most highly anticipated upcoming horror movies of the year. Scream 7 will be directed by Kevin Williamson, who wrote the first few movies. And he just revealed a major change to the franchise as a whole that I'm not really loving.

What we know about Scream 7 is limited, likely in order to guard its twists against spoilers. Neve Campbell is returning as Sidney Prescott, after being noticeably absent from the last movie (which is streaming with a Paramount+ subscription). In an interview with Empire Magazine (via our sister site Games Radar+), Williamson revealed a huge change to the property: the new movie apparently won't have the typical meta commentary on the horror genre. In his words:

Honestly, I'm shocked. This has been an essential part of every single Scream film, starting from the 1996 original. The commentary about the horror genre and its trends have not only been fodder for the franchise's comedic beats, but also a nod to the moviegoers who consistently see scary movies. And dropping it altogether is a HUGE change that I'm not sure fans are going to appreciate.

Horror is always changing, so it's been fun to see the way Scream movies address the genre's trends. Jamie Kennedy's Randy laid out the "rules" to surviving a horror movie i the first two films. Then Scream 3 literally took the franchise to a movie set. In the last two movies, Jasmin Savoy Brown's Mindy Meeks-Martin followed in her late uncle's foot steps, and laid out the rules of modern horror projects. So suddenly dropping this from the seventh movie is a huge swing.

The trailer for Scream 7 showed how focused the movie will be on Sidney Prescott and her family, but I still expected to see the meta aspect included. Mindy is even included in the movie's cast, so we got another horror nerd who could help bring this commentary to the story. And it's doubly surprising that this is being dropped since Kevin Williamson's screenplay for the first two movies is hat established this essential part of the slasher franchise. We'll just have to see how this all plays out.

Scream 7 will hit theaters on February 27th as part of the 2026 movie release list. I'll be there with my popcorn... even if I'll be missing the meta aspect of my favorite horror franchise.

The horror gene has been thriving for years, and is showing no signs of slowing down. Some of the best horror movies returned with new sequels, including Wes Craven's Scream franchise. The upcoming seventh movie is one of the most highly anticipated upcoming horror movies, especially with Neve Campbell returning as Sidney Prescott. As a hardcore fan, I'm loving how she confirmed a special way that the movie is paying tribute to Rose McGowan.

What we know about Scream 7 is limited, but the inclusion of dead legacy characters like Dewey, Stu, and Roman seem to hint that it'll explore Sidney's history. The Scream 7 trailer showed us that Sidney's daughter Tatum will be a big part of the story, and in a recent BTS clip from ET, Campbell spoke about why that new character was named after Rose McGowan's from the original. In her words:

I mean, same. This is a great nod to Wes Craven's 1996 original movie, where Tatum was an instant scene-stealer and had one of the most iconic death scenes in the franchise's history. After the seventh movie's trailer was released, Rose McGowan broke her silence on Sidney's daughter being named Tatum, with the Charmed alum appreciating this nod to her legendary performance. And it's nice hearing how much Campbell loves this choice as well.

Neve Campbell is one of the most iconic scream queens ever, and she obviously understands the Scream franchise more than almost anyone. So her pride in Tatum being honored is pretty contagious. As a reminder, you can re-watch the first trailer for Scream 7 below:

Of course, this isn' the only time that Tatum has been referenced in the Scream franchise after her iconic death. In the fifth movie, her ashes can actually be seen in Dewey's trailer, further showing how much her death has continued to haunt the survivors she left behind. And I have to assume that Ghostface will be taunting Sidney about her best friend's death during their confrontations in the seventh film.

I can't wait to see what's going to go down with Scream 7. The franchise has been guarding spoilers since the beginning, and the marketing for Kevin Williamson's upcoming sequel has definitely been keeping its cards close to the chest. Luckily the wait is nearly over.

All will be revealed when Scream 7 hits theaters on February 27th as part of the 2026 movie release list. We'll just have to wait and see how Rose McGowan's Tatum is referenced throughout its mysterious runtime.

“How the hell is Stu Macher back?”

If that’s a question that you’ve asked once if not repeatedly in the last year, you are most definitely not alone. There are a lot of big unknowns about director Kevin Williamson’s Scream 7, but that one sits right at the top of the list, as the Matthew Lillard character very clearly died in the original Scream. Now, we are less than one month away from finally getting an answer to the big mystery – and while that’s tremendously exciting, the actor admits that the whole enterprise has filled him with plenty of agita.

Lillard has been working very hard in recent months to keep all of Scream 7’s secrets, going as far as to not even tell his family what happens in the upcoming horror movie, and while there has been plenty of excitement, he also tells Entertainment Weekly that there has been a fair amount of stress as well. Stu Macher, the original Ghostface along with Skeet Ulrich’s Billy Loomis from Wes Craven’s Scream, is one of the standout roles that the man has played in his career, and he knows that he is potentially messing with his legacy by being involved. He explained,

When we last saw Stu, he was in the living room of his house… and he wasn’t doing so hot. Case in point: we couldn’t even see his face, as Neve Campell’s Sidney Prescott smashed his head open with a television. Technically it’s true that Matthew Lillard is also in Scream 2, but he is merely featured as an uncredited extra, and Scream 7 promises to be something totally different.

For what it’s worth, while Matthew Lillard’s return as Stu has earned a lot of buzz, he’s not the only legacy star who is said to be coming back from the dead for the next installment in the slasher franchise, as there have also been reports that the movie will feature David Arquette as Dewey Riley (who died in Scream VI) and Scott Foley as Roman Bridger (who met his maker in Scream 3). The context of their respective returns is being kept secret for now, but in the case of Lillard at the very least, he was willing to do anything that Kevin Williamson – the screenwriter behind the original film – asked him to do. Lillard told EW,

Also featuring franchise stars Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Jasmin Savoy Brown and Mason Gooding, Scream 7 is just a few weeks away from spilling all of its secrets and is set to arrive in theaters on February 27.

The horror genre has been experiencing a renaissance for years, and it's showing no signs of slowing down. Some of the best horror movies returned to theaters with new installments, including Wes Craven's Scream. The seventh movie is one of the most highly anticipated upcoming horror movies of the year, especially thanks to the return of legacy characters like Matthew Lillard's Stu Macher. The 56 year-old actor recently shared the wild lengths he went to guard the movie's secrets, but how big of a role could he really have?

What we know about Scream 7 is limited, especially how it's related to returning (dead) characters. Neve Campbell is back as Sidney Prescott, and fans are curious about how characters like Dewey, Roman Bridger, and Stu Macher will actor into the story. While speaking with EW about his career, Lillard revealed how seriously he's taking taking spoilers. He was asked who knows the nature about his role in the slasher movie, saying:

Now that's some dedication. The Scream franchise has been fighting against spoilers since the very first movie, which featured Matthew Lillard's Stu Macher as one of the Ghostface killers. And he didn't even tell his own family about the nature of his role in Scream 7. Looks like they'll be just as surprised as the rest of us when the movie hits theaters in late February.

As previously mentioned, a number of dead characters are somehow returning for the upcoming slasher. In addition to Matthew Lillard's Stu, we'll also be seeing David Arquette's Dewey, as well as Scott Foley's Roman Bridger. This casting news is exciting, but I have to wonder how much screentime they could possibly have in the next Scream film.

When it was revealed that Lillard was reprising his role, some moviegoers took this as a sign that Stu might be alive. This has been a fan theory for years now, although OG writer Kevin Williamson has shut it down previously. And since Williamson is directing Scream 7, I have to assume that we won't see a magical resurrection of the character in the flesh.

Instead, I assume that Sidney will be seeing visions of people from her past throughout the movie's runtime. There is some precedent for this. For instance, Sidney had hallucinations of her mother throughout Scream 3. What's more, the last two movies featured featured Sam seeing ghostly visions of her father Billy Loomis. Then again, maybe Scream 7 will surprise us and give Stu even more screen time. Only time will tell.

Our questions about Matthew Lillard's return as Stu will be answered when Scream 7 hits theaters on February 27th as part of the 2026 movie release list. As the movie's release gets closer, we should presumably get more footage from the mysterious horror flick. But whether or not we get a glimpse of Lillard remains to be seen.

Mckenna Grace isn’t just a burgeoning scream queen and pop culture afficionado; she has a full-on geek cred. She has powerful fanhoods to go along with the various franchises she’s collected in her filmography, and she has used those opportunities well (like knowingly sneaking game Easter eggs into her performance in Five Nights At Freddy’s 2). She is the kind of person who wears her passions on her sleeve… though that can have consequences – like her deep love of Scream adding a dash of awkwardness when she got the chance to meet OG franchise star Skeet Ulrich.

I spoke with Grace late last month in promotion of Five Nights At Freddy’s 2 arriving on the home video market, and it was while talking about her upcoming slate that the subject of the Scream franchise came up. Next month, we’ll see her become part of the legendary franchise via a mysterious part in Scream 7, and while she couldn’t tell me anything about the new film, she did tell me about how deep her fanhood runs. She told me,

Mckenna Grace, Skeet Ulrich and Matthew Lillard are indeed all in Five Nights At Freddy’s 2, which makes for a cute bit of Scream-related trivia – but none of the actors actually share any scenes together. While Grace ends up being the principal antagonist in the movie, Lillard only appears in a pair of flashbacks, and Ulrich only has a single scene paired with star Josh Hutcherson.

While we don’t get to see Grace and Ulrich work together on screen, director Emma Tammi did the actress the favor of introducing the two of them on set… which inspired Grace to blush a bit because of her Scream bag:

We still don’t even know the name of Mckenna Grace’s character in Scream 7, but we do know that she is part of a talented ensemble that includes Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox,, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding, Joel McHale, Jimmy Tatro, and Matthew Lillard. We’re now less than one month away from seeing the anticipated upcoming horror movie on the big screen, with the film hitting wide release on February 27.

The horror genre's renaissance is showing no signs of slowing, to the delight of fans like me. Some of the best horror movies returned to theaters recently, including Scream. The seventh installment is one of the most highly anticipated upcoming horror movies, and Chad Meeks-Martin actor Mason Gooding recently teased that it's "the closest to the original." And somehow now I'm even more hyped for it to arrive in February.

What we know about Scream 7 is limited, as the slasher property is known for trying to protect against spoilers ruining the theatrical experience. Mason Gooding starred as Chad in the last two installments (which are streaming with a Paramount+ subscription), and he'll once again be reprising his role for the seventh movie. While speaking with Deadline at Sundance, he teased what's coming, saying:

Honestly, take my money at this point. Wes Craven's 1996 original Scream is one of my favorite movies of all time, and influenced countless slashers that followed over the years. OG writer Kevin Williamson is in the director's chair for the first time in Scream 7, and it sounds like he's created a tone that'll be reminiscent of the one that started it all. At least, if Mason Gooding's comments are to be believed.

The trailer for Scream 7 teased what's to come, including Neve Campbell's return as Sidney Prescott. While she was noticeably missing from Scream VI and had a supporting role in the 2022 film, it seems like the iconic final girl is finally stepping back onto center stage. Which may be a big reason why Gooding thinks it feels so similar to the original.

Personally, I'm a bit worried about whether or not Chad and Mindy Meeks-Martin will survive Scream 7. They're very briefly shown in the trailer, seemingly attacked by Ghostface while at a bar. Mason Gooding's character particularly feels like he's on borrowed time. Because after living through the 2022 movie, Scream VI saw two different killers taking turns stabbing him enough that he looked like a pin cushion. Yet miraculously Scream VI's ending featured him not only alive, but conscious and joking around.

Then again, with the Carpenter Sisters not returning for the seventh movie, Chad and Mindy are the lone representatives of the Core Four that led the last two title. So maybe they'll be spared in the end.

All will be revealed when Scream 7 hits theaters on February 27th as part of the 2026 movie release list. Marketing for the movie should be picking up as a result, but hopefully nothing gets spoiled ahead of its release.

The horror genre has been thriving for years now, and some of the best horror movies have returned with new sequels. Chief among them is Scream, which has put out a number of movies in theaters (streaming now with a Paramount+ subscription). The seventh movie is one of the most highly anticipated upcoming horror movies, and will feature Mark Consuelos in a mysterious role. And he's got a surprise planned for his superfan son.

What we know about Scream 7 is limited, but longtime fans are hyped for Neve Campbell's return as Sidney Prescott. There are a ton of talented newcomers joining the franchise, including Anna Camp, McKenna Grace, Joel McHale and (of course) Mark Consuelos. During a chat with EW, the Riverdale alum shared how many cool points he got from his son for being cast in a Scream movie. In his words:

How sweet is that? While the Scream franchise is know for its tight security, Consuelos has a plan for a sweet gift once the seventh movie hits theaters in February. Getting a leather-bound script for the movie something many horror fans would kill for (pun intended), and it's nice to see just how excited the actor/talk show host's son is for him. Of course, we'll have to wait and see if Mark Consuelos' mysterious character manages to make it out of the slasher alive.

The 54 year-old multitalent has had a long and successful career, with notable roles in All My Children, Riverdale, and appearances in popular shows like Broad City and Only Murders in the Building. And while his son Michael is presumably used to his dad being on TV, the fact that he'll get to play in the Scream franchise is especially exciting.

The original Scream is my favorite horror movie of all time, and I've been a fan of every single installment thus far. As such, I can understand why Mark Consuelos is so hyped about his famous father getting to join the property that began with late director Wes Craven. If any relative of mine ended up being cast in the slasher property I'd totally lose my mind.

I can only imagine what a family experience the Scream 7 premiers will be. I have to assume that along with his wife Kelly Ripa, that Mark Consuelos is also going to be bringing Michael as a guest. And after the movie finally comes out, then the talk show host/actor should be able to safely gift his son the leather version of his script.

Consuelos' role will be revealed when Scream 7 hits theaters on February 27th as part of the 2026 movie release list. Hopefully we get information about who he's playing sooner rather than later.

The horror genre has been thriving for years, and is showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon. The best horror movies have returned for new installments, including Wes Craven's Scream (which is streaming with a Paramount+ subscription). The seventh movie is one of the most highly anticipated upcoming horror movies, especially thanks to the return of various legacy characters. Scott Foley recently gushes about returning as Roman Bridger... even though he's pretty clueless about what's happening in the movie.

What we know about Scream 7 is limited, but it seems like that sentiment also extends to some of its cast. While fans are hyped that Neve Campbell is back as Sidney, there are a ton of questions about the dead legacy characters that will somehow also appear. In a conversation with Us Weekly, Foley spoke about stepping back into the slasher franchise, offering:

Seriously, I need Scream 7 to get here ASAP. Foley seems totally thrilled with his first return to the franchise since Scream 3, where his character Roman went down as history as the only Ghostface to not have any associates/partners. He did the killing all by himself, plus he helped to start the entire series by encouraging Billy Loomis and Stu Macher to target Sidney in the first film. He's also Sidney's half-brother, which likely why he's making a mysterious appearance in the next film.

Foley mentioned not only reuniting with Neve Campbell and writer/director Kevin Williamson, but also David Arquette. Dewey's death in the 2022 Scream devastated fans, and meant that he couldn't return for Scream VI. But a number of dead characters will be back for Scream 7, allowing the OG to (somehow) appear again.

In the same interview, the Grey's Anatomy alum was asked what to expect from the movie as a whole, but it turns out that he's largely in the dark. As he put it:

While Marvel is known for its tight security, the same can also be said for Wes Craven's slasher property. Even the first Scream movie tried to guard against spoilers, and that was before the internet and social media as we know it. So perhaps it shouldn't be a surprise that Foley wasn't given the script for the seventh movie. Luckily we're getting closer to our questions being answered.

All will be revealed when Scream 7 hits theaters on February 27th as part of the 2026 movie release list. Hopefully we get some more footage to hold us over sooner rather than later.

It's a great time to be a fan of scary movies, as the genre has been thriving for years. Some of the best horror movies have returned to theaters as a result, including Wes Craven's Scream. One of the most iconic horror franchises ever, we're currently gearing up for the whopping seventh movie. OG Ghostface killer Skeet Ulrich appeared in the last two movies as a vision/ghost of Billy Loomis, and he recently revealed the original plans for Melissa Barrera's Sam Carpenter to become the masked killer. Cue the horror-related fomo.

What we now about Scream 7 is limited but Neve Campbell will one again take center stage as Sidney Prescott. This news came after Melissa Barrera was fired from the franchise, despite being the lead of the last two installments. During a recent conversation with EW, Ulrich revealed the original three-movie plan for that iconic scream queen, saying:

Well, my mind is officially blown. Throughout the last two Scream movies Sam fought her more violent urges, although that tenacity is a big reason why she manage to survive multiple encounters with Ghostface. And while she's managed to stand in opposition to her birthfather's murderous ways, that seemingly would have changed with the seventh movie. I need to know more!

The ghost of Billy Loomis can be seen in 2022's Scream as well as Scream VI, encouraging Sam to embrace her inner serial killer in order to survive Ghostface. While Barrera's character tried not to be like her biological father, she sometimes needed to tap into that darkness to fight back. And if Ulrich's comments are to be believed, she would have eventually given in and become Ghostface herself. Like father like daughter.

If Sam actually became Ghostface in Scream 7 as planned it would be a huge first for the slasher property as a whole. Despite some red herrings throughout the years, we've never seen one of the franchise's heroes break bad and become a villain. This would have been a huge twist, and now I'm pretty bummed that we never got to see this storyline play out on the big screen.

Per Ulrich's comments, he seemingly doesn't have a role in Scream 7, despite how many legacy characters are being brought back. That includes David Arquette's Dewey, Matthew Lillard's Stu, and Scott Foley's Roman.

All will be revealed when Scream 7 hits theaters on February 27th as part of the 2026 movie release list. We'll just have to wait and see if Barrera ever gets to return to the role of Sam in the future.

Matthew Lillard is no stranger to fans of the best horror movies, but even he admits stepping into the upcoming Scream 7 came with a surprising amount of pressure. While walking the red carpet at the Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 premiere, the actor spoke about returning to the franchise that helped launch his career.

Lillard caught up with Entertainment Tonight, and in a clip the outlet posted to its official TikTok, he admitted that the franchise’s legacy hit him hard. The last thing he wanted was to return after all these years only to mess up something fans consider sacred. As he put it:

Lillard also cracked a smile while sharing his hopes for the next installment in the horror franchise, hopes that clearly come from a place of affection for the fandom that’s kept Scream alive for nearly three decades. He added:

From the little we know about Scream 7, it arrives on February 27, 2026, with original Scream scribe Kevin Williamson directing and Guy Busick penning the script. Radio Silence is sticking around as executive producers, but the biggest story is the cast, a mix of returning icons, unexpected newcomers, and impossible-to-predict choices that have fans spinning theories nonstop.

Neve Campbell is officially back as Sidney Prescott, a move that instantly raised the stakes. Courteney Cox returns as Gale Weathers, somehow still (barely) outrunning Ghostface after being stabbed, shot, punched, and thrown through more glass than any human should survive. Members of the “Core Four,” Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown, are back as Chad and Mindy, though their siblings, Sam and Tara, are missing from the lineup, leaving fans wondering how the new film will bridge that emotional gap.

Then come the surprises: Isabel May as Sidney’s daughter. Anna Camp in a mystery role. McKenna Grace, Celeste O’Connor, Asa Germann, Ethan Embry, Mark Consuelos, Michelle Randolph, and Jimmy Tatro are all joining the ride.

But the biggest shockwave, of course, is Matthew Lillard’s return in and of itself, even if no one knows the "how." The casting announcement didn’t specify if Stu Macher is physically back or appearing as a vision, Billy Loomis–style. That ambiguity alone has reignited decades of fan theories insisting Stu survived his TV-to-the-head “death” in the 1996 original. The franchise even teased his lingering presence in Scream VI, making the possibility feel more real than ever.

However, they’re bringing him back, and one thing feels clear: Williamson and the creative team are swinging big. They know longtime fans will be watching closely, and they’re stacking the deck with legacy players and new blood to keep the 2026 movie schedule buzzing until the upcoming horror movie slashes its way onto our screens.

Wes Craven's Scream is one of the best horror movies of all time, and started a long-running horror franchise that's still active today. The series, which is streaming with a Paramount+ subscription, has featured actress Hayden Panettiere in two movies as Kirby Reed. And she recently explained the lesson that Craven taught her while filming the fourth movie that really stuck with her.

Wes Craven's death in 2015 left behind a legacy of horror classics, including the Scream movies. Plenty of the late filmmaker's collaborators continue to praise him, including Panettiere. She spoke to EW about working on him in Scream 4, and the way he directed her in the slasher. In the actress' words:

This shows just how methodically Craven worked on his horror movies, particularly the Scream franchise. He needed actors to do their scenes at a very specific pace in order to build the tension throughout Scream 4. And that piece of advice was a memorable part of Hayden Panettiere's collaboration with the iconic director.

Despite having an understanding of what Craven needed, the Heroes alum admitted that she still felt like she was moving too slowly in her debut performance as Kirby. In the same interview, she spoke about how she didn't fully understand this choice until she was able to see the fourth Scream movie's edit. As she told it:

I rank Scream 4 high on the franchise as a whole, and it stands out as Wes Craven's final directorial venture before his death. And while Panettiere was originally uncomfortable the pacing of scenes when shooting, she saw how it all made sense once the movie was edited together and given suspenseful music.

Longtime fans of the franchise were hyped when Hayden Panettiere returned as Kirby in Scream VI, even managing to survive another encounter with Ghostface. While she's not expected to appear in the seventh movie, the door is still open for another return. During that interview the former child actor spoke more about what she learned from Craven, offering:

It sounds like Craven's way of working really stuck with Panettiere, and will influence how she offers direction in the future. And I hope that she ends up getting behind the camera sooner rather than later.

What we know about Scream 7 is limited, but fans are hyped for Neve Campbell's return as Sidney Prescott. While there are a bunch of legacy characters included, unfortunately it doesn't seem like Kirby Reed is included. Fingers crossed we see her sometime in the future.

Scream 4 is streaming on Paramount+ and Scream 7 will hit theaters on February 27th as part of the 2026 movie release list. The franchise is alive and well, and we have Wes Craven to thank for that.

After a turbulent stretch for the Scream franchise, director swaps, cast exits, and debates over the series’ direction, the upcoming Scream 7 is shaping up to be something of a reset. The movie marks Kevin Williamson’s long-awaited return to the director’s chair, and if you ask Matthew Lillard, the upcoming horror movie is leaning heavily into that old-school Woodsboro DNA. In a recent interview, the actor weighed in on how the latest chapter will differ from the franchise’s newer entries.

Lillard, who’s reprising one half of the original Ghostface Killers, under circumstances that remain extremely mysterious, recently spoke with ComicBookMovie about the tone of the film and how it compares to the franchise’s recent entries. And according to him, Williamson’s approach is precisely what long-time fans have been hoping for. The SLC Punk! actor emphasized that the energy behind the movie felt instantly right the moment he heard the pitch:

Scream 7 arrives after the recent revival films put a modern, meta spin on the slasher, with a new cast at the center and Radio Silence behind the camera. Lillard made it clear he thought that team did strong work, and praised Melissa Barrera and the young ensemble, as well as the directing duo’s vision, but this chapter hits a different register.

He went on to describe his reaction to Williamson’s initial pitch, reflecting on how surreal it was to be asked back after decades of speculation about Stu’s fate:

It’s a thoughtful and surprisingly diplomatic stance to acknowledge the strength of the recent films while making it clear that the seventh entry is operating with a distinctly nostalgic compass. And based on the Without A Paddle star’s comments, audiences responding at early test screenings seem to agree.

Recently, I rewatched the entire series, and several things still hold up, including Lillard's incredible performance as Stu. But it, of course, left me with one of the biggest lingering questions: How is Stu returning at all, given the very clear 'TV to the head' situation back in 1996? But with multiple legacy actors returning—including Neve Campbell and Courteney Cox—and several actors whose characters are not canonically alive, such as David Arquette (Deputy Dewey) and Scott Foley, those questions may be part of the fun.

Whether this next installment answers all of fandom’s long-running theories or throws even more chaos into the mix, Lillard’s enthusiasm makes me think Scream 7 is steering directly into that tone and style that made the series iconic in the first place. And that has this long-running horror movie fan beyond excited.

Ghostface returns when Scream 7 hits the 2026 movie schedule and theaters on February 27, 2026. As for Matthew Lillard, he returns on the 2025 movie release calendar, starring in the Five Nights At Freddy’s 2, hitting theaters on December 5.

The horror genre has been thriving for years now, and is showing no signs of slowing down. Some of the best horror movies returned with new sequels, including Wes Craven's Scream (which is streaming with a Paramount+ subscription). This will continue with the upcoming horror movie Scream 7, which will feature Sidney's daughter Tatum. And Rose McGowan recently reacted to her ill-fated character getting this sweet tribute.

What we know about Scream 7 is limited, thanks to the franchise's penchant for protecting against spoilers. But fans are hyped that Neve Campbell is back as Sidney, with the slasher seemingly focused on her family. That includes her daughter, who is fittingly named Tatum after Sidney's High School bestie who was killed in the first movie. McGowan spoke to ScreamObsessed and was asked about this name choice, responding:

Honestly, same. As a hardcore Scream fan, I thought this nod to McGowan was a lovely tribute to the fans, and also made sense narratively. This isn't the first time that Tatum was referenced in the newer movies; her ashes were seen in Dewey's house in the 2022 sequel. So while the Charmed star might have only appeared in one Scream movie, her legacy has continued to be felt.

The first Scream 7 trailer definitely piqued the interest of horror fans, especially those of us who have spent years watching every new installment of the beloved franchise. It seems like the story will be very much focused on Sidney and her daughter Tatum, who must quickly be trained to be a fighter like her mother. And I'm curious to see what references to Rose McGowan's character might come throughout the course of the film.

With OG Scream writer Kevin Williamson directing the seventh movie, it does seem like it'll have at on of connective tissue to the 1996 original. Case in point: a number of dead legacy characters are somehow expected to appear in the mysterious slasher. That includes David Arquette's Dewey Riley, Matthew Lillard's Stu Macher, and Scott Foley's Roman Bridger. Could we also get a surprise appearance from Rose McGowan? We'll have to see but just about anything seems possible.

While the last two Scream movies featured a vision/ghost of Billy Loomis, it should be fascinating to see how the dead legacy characters somehow appear in the seventh film. Will we get ghosts, flashbacks, or something else entirely? I can't wait to find out.

All will be revealed when Scream 7 hits theaters on February 27th as part of the 2026 movie release list. It's only a few months away, so hopefully we'll get more footage and information soon.

If you know your slasher movie lore, you can probably replay Scream’s finale in your head. Sidney flips the script, Stu Macher eats TV glass, and Billy Loomis gets his last “one final scare” denied, hard. It’s a perfect crowd-pleaser, the kind of catharsis that made the 1996 original an instant classic and one of the best horror movies ever. What most fans didn’t realize at the time? A key beat in that takedown wasn’t acting. It was legit pain.

Back in the heyday of DVD commentaries, the late director Wes Craven casually told an “inside story” that turns one of Billy’s stabs into a bona fide yikes moment. In the scene where Sidney jams an umbrella into Billy’s chest, the production had done the responsible thing by padding Skeet Ulrich up and rigging the prop to collapse. Then the universe reminded everyone that masks limit visibility. According to the director in the official Scream audio commentary:

That wince you see? Not method. Ulrich gets tagged right on the sensitive spot Craven describes. Yes, he’s absolutely capable of selling agony on cue, but knowing the backstory adds a new layer of ouch to an already intense sequence.

It also doubles as a mini stunt safety lesson. Even with planning—pads, props, rehearsal—things can go sideways when visibility is limited and adrenaline spikes. Ghostface’s mask is a design icon, sure, but it’s also a tunnel. One inch off your mark becomes a direct hit. To Ulrich’s credit, he recovered fast and stayed in character while the cameras were rolling. To the production’s credit, the shot works, and no one walked away with lasting damage.

For the record, none of this changes Billy Loomis deserving what he got. But it does separate the character’s fate from the actor’s day at work. Poor Skeet had to sacrifice for great cinema.

Ulrich’s Billy has already returned in visions and flashbacks in recent entries, and the franchise loves a legacy cameo. What we know about Scream 7 is pretty limited, as the filmmakers are keeping their cards close to the vest, but it wouldn’t be shocking if Billy’s specter popped up again to haunt (or taunt) the living. As always with this series, assume misdirection until proven otherwise—red herrings are kind of the brand.

Regardless of what shape his next Scream appearance takes, the Craft actor is hardly slowing down. He and some familiar franchise faces are also reuniting in Blumhouse’s Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, currently lined up on the 2025 movie schedule, hitting theaters on December 5. Different kind of horror, same “don’t blink” energy. Let’s hope the stunt teams were able to keep their eyesight clear and didn't hit any real-life “steel scream buttons” on their actors, this time.

If you needed another reason to revisit Scream, which you can with a Paramount+ subscription, consider this your invitation. That final showdown already sings—now you’ll hear the extra note hidden in Skeet Ulrich’s expression. It’s not just Billy Loomis getting his comeuppance. It’s the moment an actor took a legit shot, stayed in it, and helped cement one of horror’s best endings.

Sabrina Carpenter really pulled out all the stops for her Halloween concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Not only was everyone in costume on stage, but the pop star herself had three different Halloween fits ready for the occasion. However, the fun didn’t stop there. That’s because when Drew Barrymore showed up to get arrested for being hot, she paid homage to one of the best horror movies with her costume.

Sabrina Carpenter Had Three Costumes For Her Halloween Show

So, last year, the “Espresso” singer performed a concert on Halloween, and she wore three different costumes throughout the show. She did the same thing this year, and I’d say she stepped up her game, too.

To start the show off, she revealed that she was wearing a perfect sparkly Wonder Woman outfit. Take a look:

Then, when she normally wears a black one-piece, she appeared dressed as cowgirl Barbie. Looking just like Margot Robbie’s titular character when she’s in the Real World, Carpenter really rocked the pink like she was in the movie Barbie:

Finally, she ended her show in a two-piece set inspired by Fred Flintstone from The Flintstones, which was easily the most surprising and funny costume of the night:

Now, right before she performed “Juno,” she revealed her bright orange look by arresting a fan in the crowd for being hot. In the past, she’s arrested Millie Bobby Brown, and the pink handcuffs have also gone to SNL’s Domingo, Anne Hathaway, Joe Keery, Gigi Hadid and more. However, on Halloween, she bantered with Drew Barrymore, who was dressed as the Scream killer who murdered her character in the 1996 classic.

Drew Barrymore Showed Up Dressed As Ghostface

As I’m sure we’re all aware (and if you aren’t, sorry for the spoilers for a movie that came out almost 30 years ago), Drew Barrymore’s Casey Becker was the first Ghostface kill ever. Her opening scene in Scream shocked tons, and to this day, it’s considered iconic. So, for the actress to show up at Carpenter’s concert as a Ghostface killer was a legendary move:

Just the concept of this bit is brilliant. However, Drew Barrymore’s commitment to it made it even better. I love how theatrical she was with her reveal, and I am so here for the silly and flirty energy she and Sabrina Carpenter threw at each other.

Now, I need to go watch Scream with a Paramount+ subscription, and I’m also thinking about how great Sabrina Carpenter would be in a Scream movie. She has the sense of humor and the acting skills to fit into that world perfectly. However, that’s just a fantasy.

What’s real is Ghostface, I mean Drew Barrymore, showed up at her concert, and I seriously cannot get over how incredible this all was!

It's Halloween season, which means for many of us it's time to re-watch the best horror movies. That includes the Scream films, which are still popular and continue to arrive in theaters to this day. But there's nothing like the original, which introduced us to final girl Sidney Prescott, as well as OG Ghostface killers Billy Loomis and Stu Macher. The latter was played by Matthew Lillard, who recently responded to fans shipping those killers as a romantic couple. What's more, he even has a fun nickname for Billy and Stu.

What we know about Scream 7 is limited, but fans are hyped that Lillard will somehow be back as Stu, despite his death at the end of the first movie (which is streaming with a Paramount+ subscription). At a recent convention appearance with co-star Skeet Ulrich (via TikTok), the Scooby-Doo actor addressed the theory that Stu and Billy were actually a secret couple. In his words:

Honestly, I didn't expect this answer. It's one thing to acknowledge this fan theory about Stu and Billy, but it's another for Matthew Lillard to so wholeheartedly agree with it. And now I'm going to have a hard time re-watching Scream without referring to these original Ghostface killers as "The First Husbands of Horror." It's really got a ring to it.

While Billy and Stu's romantic relationship isn't technically canon in the Scream franchise, that hasn't stopped Lillard from embracing the fan theory as it has become popular over the years. After getting the actors' approval, I have to assume that shippers will get even more passionate about the subject than before.

This particular fan theory came from the devotion that Stu had for Billy throughout the first Scream movie... even if his fellow killer ended up cutting him too deep when trying to frame Sidney. And once the pair confess to the murders (including Sidney's mother), they also end up being a bit touchy-feely. The above shot of the pair of killers is a big reason why moviegoers started shipping these two characters.

As Matthew Lillard said, the idea of Billy and Stu being secretly gay never actually came up on the set of the original Scream. But both he and Skeet Ulrich seem tickled by fan theory, and have embraced it as it has gotten more popular over the years. I just love how much they're into it, tbh.

We'll just have to wait and see if this goes from fan theory to official canon when Matthew Lillard appears in the next upcoming horror movie. The first Scream 7 trailer briefly features his voice, but it's still unclear how Stu will factor into the story. Hopefully, we get information sooner rather than later.

Scream 7 is expected to hit theaters on February 27th as part of the 2026 movie release list. We'll just have to wait and hope for some footage of Lillard to arrive. Fingers crossed.

Wes Craven's Scream is one of the best horror movies of all time, and started a beloved slasher franchise that's continuing to this day. While Neve Campbell was missing from Scream VI, she's back in the next upcoming horror movie: Scream 7. The first trailer just arrived, featuring Sidney Prescott being a total badass, and some A+ references to the original 1996 film. Let's break it all down.

What we know about Scream 7 is limited, which is why this first footage is so thrilling. The spot light is back on iconic final girl Sidney Prescott, and this time she has to protect her family from a new Ghostface killer. That includes her daughter Tatum (Isabel May), named after Rose McGowan's character from the first movie.

This trailer opens on Stu Macher's house, which was a major set piece from both the original Scream and the 2022 film (both of which are streaming with a Paramount+ subscription). It's now a spooky Airbnb... but two unsuspecting renters end up murdered by Ghostface. That's when our girl Sidney Prescott enters the chat, and it becomes clear that she and her family are the new killer's focus.

Sidney and her family are being stalked in whatever non-Woodsboro town that they're currently residing in. That includes her husband Mark played by Joel McHale, although it seems to mostly be about Sidney and her daughter Tatum. Throughout the above trailer she tries to keep her alive, and train her on how to survive an encounter with Ghostface. But only time will tell how successful she ultiamately is.

In this limited footage we also get a few glimpses of beloved legacy characters that will be joining the fray. Obviously that includes Courteney Cox's Gale Weathers, who is the only character to be featured in every single movie in the Scream franchise. We also see Mindy and Chad Meeks-Martin, who will represent the Core Four after Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega's departure. I'm just hoping that all three of those characters survive; they are only shown very briefly in the trailer.

On the other hand, the marketing for Scream 7 might want to hold out on footage of those characters until we get close to the movie's release. A number of other (dead) legacy characters have also been confirmed for the movie that weren't shown at all: David Arquette's Dewey, Scott Foley's Roman, and Matthew Lillard's Stu Macher. So while this first trailer is thrilling, fans theories and rumors are likely going to really heat up as a result of this footage.

In the trailer Ghostface claims he's going to "burn it all down", and that'll seemingly begin with Stu's house. The official poster for the movie shows that structure on fire in the reflection of the killer's knife. Check it out:

I have so many questions and can't wait till they're answered. The timing of this first trailer is delightful since it's Halloween, which makes me think that director/writer Kevin Williamson and company are really going to give fans what they want for the next installment of the beloved franchise.

All will be revealed when Scream 7 hits theaters on February 27th as part of the 2026 movie release list. For now, fans can re-watch the previous six chapters over on Paramount+ as theories about what's coming next hit the internet.

Scream VI saw Ghostface carving up the Big Apple (and the franchise’s future thrown into uncertainty with cast departures and behind-the-scenes shakeups), so it’s fair to say the fanbase was on edge about whether the upcoming horror movie would even happen. But then came the bombshell news that Scream creator Kevin Williamson would direct Scream 7 in his first time ever behind the camera for the series. Now, David Arquette is finally opening up about his return, and honestly, what he says has me believing this could be the respectful, satisfying comeback Dewey Riley deserves.

Speaking to Men’s Journal, Arquette revealed that the chance to work with Williamson again sealed the deal for his return. The two go all the way back to 1996's original film, and their creative chemistry has been a core part of the series' DNA. Dewey may have died in Scream 5 (pour one out), but Arquette’s wording leaves the door wide open for… something. As he explained:

Arquette’s affection for the series and its original screenwriter is exciting. It also shows just how well he understands what makes Scream tick. In the same interview, he explains what sets the franchise apart from the countless other slasher franchises, and it knew what fans wanted before they did. He continued:

I couldn’t have put it better myself. That self-awareness, mixed with real stakes and emotionally layered characters, is why Scream has stayed relevant for nearly three decades. And it’s also why the idea of Kevin Williamson stepping behind the camera, with Arquette in any capacity, feels genuinely exciting, not like a cheap stunt. With all the legacy casting announcements, this doesn’t seem like a gimmick. If anything, it feels like Williamson is building toward something that could actually surprise and satisfy longtime fans in equal measure.

Scream 7 is currently slated to hit the 2026 movie schedule on February 27, 2026, and while it’s still unclear exactly how Dewey’s return will be handled, what we do know is this: this isn’t just any sequel. It’s a reunion between the series creator and a long list of legacy characters who helped define the franchise’s golden era. And they just might be ready to do it again.

Arquette may be keeping details close to the vest, but his enthusiasm and unwavering trust in Williamson speak volumes. If this really is a full-circle moment, then Scream 7 might not just give fans a thrill. It could deliver the franchise's most emotional twist yet.

Fans can revisit the one that started it all, Scream (1996), streaming with a Peacock subscription.

With Halloween approaching and the upcoming Scream VII on the horizon, I decided to binge the entire Scream franchise—from 1996’s genre-resetting original to 2023’s bloodier, glossier Scream VI. Some entries are some of the best horror movies of all time, holding up even decades after release. Other entries–looking at you, Scream 3–Not so much. But through the meta-commentary, fake-out deaths, and increasingly elaborate who-dunnits, a few things still completely rule. So here’s what still absolutely slaps about the Scream series, and what doesn’t quite hold up to scrutiny.

Still Slaps – The Cold Opens Are The Gold Standard

Let’s start with the obvious: Scream is a classic horror franchise, and nobody does a cold open better. From Drew Barrymore’s unforgettable turn in the 1996 original to Jenna Ortega’s clever meta fake-out in Scream (2022), this franchise knows how to grab you before the title card even hits.

Even the lesser entries (Scream 3, looking at you and your abysmal Rotten Tomatoes score again!) try to do something interesting in the first ten minutes. They don’t always succeed, but they never phone it in — pun intended. And when they do land, they remind you why Ghostface remains such an iconic slasher even thirty years since he stabbed his way into our hearts.

The opening kill (or fake-out) in a Scream movie isn’t just a gimmick but a tone setter. And even after all these years, the openings still know how to mess with you. If I had to pick a favorite, I think the OG Barrymore opening is the best, but a close second is Scream (2022), which turns audience expectations on their head.

Does Not Slap – Plot Armor Is Getting Out of Hand

The franchise used to pride itself on unpredictability. No one was safe—not even fan favorites. But the longer it goes on, the more it starts to protect its core characters with almost cartoonish invincibility.

By Scream VI, Chad is stabbed multiple times by two Ghostfaces at once and still gets wheeled out grinning like he tripped on a sidewalk crack. We love the guy, but come on.

When every main character survives a meat grinder, the stakes shrink. The suspense becomes routine. Ghostface used to be scary because you couldn’t predict who’d make it. Now? You can pencil most of the cast into the next movie’s press tour.

Still Slaps – The “Rules” Evolve With The Times

From Randy's explanation of the rules of surviving a horror movie in the original to Mindy’s savvy breakdown of "franchise" logic in Scream VI, the series has always been sharp about genre evolution. These meta-asides aren't just fan service; they're reflections or comments on where the horror genre is at that moment.

In Scream 2, the rules adapt to sequels. In Scream 3, it’s about trilogies. The 2022 reboot brings in “requels.” And by Scream VI, we’re talking full-blown franchise logic: legacy characters, core four, subversion for the sake of subversion. It’s ridiculous, but it’s aware that it’s ridiculous, and that’s what saves it.

The commentary never gets in the way of the slashing. It enhances it. When the franchise points out its own formula, it resets the stakes. It’s not just self-aware. It’s self-interrogating.

Does Not Slap – Some Killer Reveals Fizzle Out Hard

One of the many reasons the Scream series is one of the best horror franchises is its third-act reveals. The series lives and dies by its Ghostface reveals. At its best (Billy & Stu, Jill, Richie & Amber), they’re smart, satisfying, or at least fun to rewatch with the clues in mind. But then there’s Roman (Scream 3), Mickey (Scream 2), and… let’s be honest, mileage varies on Scream 5.

When the killer twist lands flat, the whole movie suffers in hindsight. It’s like building a brilliant haunted house, only for the final scare to be a guy in a bad dollar store mask.

The franchise knows this, and Scream VI makes a solid course correction by focusing less on the “who” and more on the “how.” But it’s still a recurring weak spot: reveals that feel underwhelming or tacked on.

Still Slaps – The Survivors Are Actually Worth Rooting For

Unlike a lot of horror series that treat characters like disposable cannon fodder, Scream builds loyalty. Sidney, Gale, and Dewey weren’t just Final Girl + Cop + Reporter tropes. They grew, changed, got hurt, and (in Dewey’s case, spoiler) didn’t all make it.

What’s impressive is how the new cast (Scream 2022 and Scream VI) continues that emotional investment. Sam and Tara Carpenter, especially when played against each other, feel complicated in a way that’s rare in slashers. They’re not always likable, but they don’t need to be. But you care what happens to them.

Mindy and Chad bring levity and heart. And even legacy characters (hello, Gale) get fresh mileage. It’s one of the few franchises where “final girl fatigue” never fully sets in.

Does Not Slap – The Finales Are Getting a Little Too Monologue-Happy

There’s a fine line between clever and overcooked, and Scream finales are starting to lean into the latter. The original did it best: a tight, chaotic back-and-forth between killers and survivors, with just enough exposition to tie it up.

Lately, though? Everyone talks—a lot. Scream VI’s killer(s) are particularly bad at this, with the characters explaining themselves in TED Talk-length rants. The survivors answer back with emotional monologues about trauma, legacy, and justice. And while it’s well-acted, it can also kill the momentum. It’s a knife fight, not a therapy session.

It’s understandable. The newer entries are trying to say something. But by the time the final body drops, you’ve sat through three endings and a half-dozen soliloquies. Sometimes less is more.

Still Slaps – The Set Pieces Still Deliver

The best slasher movies live and die by their set pieces. Scream doesn’t rely on supernatural monsters or elaborate traps; it’s just one knife, one killer (give or take), and a whole lot of clever blocking.

The best sequences in this franchise hold up thanks to their staging. The cop car crawl in Scream 2—the lights-out attack in Scream 3. The ladder escape in Scream VI. Even when the scripts wobble, the suspense set pieces are often masterclasses in pacing and camera work.

Ghostface may be the clumsiest killer in horror history, but when the camera’s rolling, the tension is real.

The Final Cut

Rewatching the entire Scream franchise back-to-back is a fascinating experience. It's like watching horror evolve in real time. The kills get bloodier. The references get sharper. The finales get messier. But through it all, the franchise keeps doing what it does best: delivering fun, smart, meta horror that still cares about the people under the mask (and the ones wearing it).

The cold opens are still killer. The self-awareness is still razor-sharp. And if you can forgive a few too many fake-outs and some invincible survivors, Scream remains one of the best horror franchises running.

Ghostface may change, but the thrills, the tension, and the fun of guessing who’s next? That still slaps. So if you’re building your Halloween watchlist, and like me, love scary movies that have nothing to do with the season, check out the Scream franchise, because there is something worth watching in every installment.

Fans of scary movies have been thriving for years, thanks to the genre's ongoing renaissance. Some of the best horror movies have returned to theaters with new sequels, including Wes Craven's Scream. The seventh installment is one of the most highly anticipated upcoming horror movies, and it will feature a number of (dead) legacy characters. Now Scream 2 actress Laurie Metcalf has broken her silence on the rumors of her return with a four-word response.

What we know about Scream 7 is very limited, but fans are excited about the return a number of legacy characters. In addition to Neve Campbell's return as Sidney, we're also being treated to Matthew Lillard's Stu Macher, Scott Foley's Roman Bridger, and even David Arquette's Dewey, despite his death in the fifth movie. Laurie Metcalf was recently interviewed by ET, where she was asked if she'd be down to play Nancy Loomis again. She said:

How delightfully cryptic. While some fans are convinced she will have a role in Scream 7, the Lady Bird actress confirmed she'd be down to return to the beloved slasher franchise. Although whether or not she's actually been asked remains to be seen; she seems pretty flummoxed in the video. Could she be guarding the sequel's secrets? Only time will tell.

Metcalf offered this soon to be viral comment while at the red carpet for Monster: The Ed Gein Story, which will premiere tomorrow for those with a Netflix subscription. Mrs. Loomis was an unexpected but great Ghostface killer, becoming the final foe for Sidney and Gale to vanquish in Scream 2. So it would be wild to see her back in the role after all these years.

Since Skeet Ulrich appeared in the last two Scream movies as the ghost of Billy Loomis, bringing back Laurie Metcalf could offer the first time that we've seen Billy and Nancy on screen together. Exactly how this would work logically is unclear, but director Kevin Williamson has some tricks up his sleeve with the inclusion of so many dead legacy characters in the seventh movie.

While Metcalf hasn't been confirmed for the next slasher, her character was memorialized throughout the runtime of Scream VI. In the New York City-based movie, there's a ton of action in a shrine/museum of the Ghostface killers. Their masks, murder weapons and clothes are collected, along with items from the various victims. Nancy Loomis' blazer and gun are included within the displays.

There are countless questions about's coming in Scream 7 and which/how legacy characters will be used. But the marketing is seemingly beginning soon, as we were just recently treated to the movie's official logo.

Scream 7 is set to arrive in theaters on February 27th as part of the 2026 movie release list. Hopefully we'll get some more information about its mysterious contents soon. For now, the franchise can be re-watched on Paramount+.

The horror genre has been thriving for years, to the delight of fans like me. Some of the best horror movies came back to theaters with new sequels, including Wes Craven's Scream. The upcoming seventh movie is one of the most highly anticipated upcoming horror movies heading to theaters, especially since it'll include a number of beloved legacy characters. Matthew Lillard will be back as Stu, and recently shared why he's nervous for the slasher to arrive.

What we know about Scream 7 is limited, but the hype is real... especially with all the dead legacy characters somehow set to appear. Exactly how Lillard's OG Ghostface will be used remains to be seen, but fan have been debating if Stu was alive for years. During a recent interview with People, the 55 year-old actor shared his nerves about the forthcoming sequel, offering:

Points were made. Stu is a beloved part of the Scream franchise, and Matthew Lillard's energetic performance in the 1996 original is a big reason why Craven's masterpiece worked so well. So reprising that role does carry the risk of ruining the fan favorite killer's legacy.

The last two Scream movies, which are streaming with a Paramount+ subscription, were largely focused on the new characters, especially the Carpenter sisters. But the seventh movie is bringing back Neve Campbell's Sidney Prescott as its protagonist. And she'll be joined by other legacy characters like David Arquette's Dewey, who died in the 2022 movie.

Later in that same interview, Lillard spoke more about his return to Scream, offering:

The risk is there, but I have to assume that longtime horror fans like myself are going to be especially invested in Scream 7. Moviegoers were bummed when Neve Campbell was missing from Scream VI, so her return alongside other legacy actors is a thrilling concept. But whether or not the movie's director Kevin Williamson manages to land the plane remains to be seen.

Scream is one of my favorite movies of all time, and I'm so curious about how Lillard's Stu Macher will be used in the latest sequel. While there's a risk to honoring the franchise's past in this way, director Kevin Williamson wrote the OG movie and knows the franchise well. We'll have to wait and see how his first directorial effort for the property works out.

All will be revealed when Scream 7 hits theaters on February 27th as part of the 2026 movie release list. There are rumors we'll get the first trailer soon, so hopefully they come to fruition.

One of the upcoming horror movies we’re most looking forward to next year is the next Scream installment, which will officially feature a mix of legacy and new stars. On top of word that Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott, Courteney Cox’s Gale Weathers and David Arquette’s Dewey Riley are back in the scary movie series, Matthew Lillard's Stu is another big return. When the actor recalled getting the call to reprise his role, he shared the funny answer why the character has been benched so many Scream movies.

Why Did It Take So Long For Matthew Lillard To Return To Scream?

In a new interview with Us Magazine, Lillard happily reported that Scream 7 is “smart” and has a "familiarity" to the original film because the first movie’s writer, Kevin Williamson, is directing it. The actor also revealed this funny story:

Now this is too good. If you’ve been following the Scream franchise over the years, you probably know that there have been a lot of theories pointing to Lillard’s Stu being alive, but another Scream movie has yet to explore it. How hilarious is it that Lillard and the fans actually wanting him to come back actually might have hurt his chances?

Matthew Lillard Has Been Claiming Stu Is Alive For Ages

See, Lillard has always been a fan-favorite in the Scream films. The actor said earlier this year that he’s been asked “literally 1,000 times a day since the first movie” if his character might return. And, oftentimes the actor has publicly said over the years that he thinks Stu has been alive all along and never actually died at the end of the first movie. Finally, three decades after the first movie came out, fans will finally get an answer. Here’s what Lillard said about his reaction to finally being asked back:

Scream 7 is the third movie in the franchise from Radio Silence Productions, which has had James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick penning the scripts and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett directing. This time Busick is behind the script and Kevin Williamson is directing after writing the original movie and the fourth film.

Along with original Scream cast members Campbell, Cox, Arquette and Lillard being in the movie, Mason Gooding, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Scott Foley are returning. Joel McHale, Anna Camp, Mckenna Grace and Celeste O’Connor are among the new cast members who have been announced. The movie hits theaters on February 26, 2026.

The horror genre continues to be wildly popular, just look at Weapons' wild success. Some of the best horror movies come from long-standing franchises, such as Wes Craven's Scream. That series' seventh movie is one of the most hotly anticipated upcoming horror movies, especially since Neve Campbell is back as Sidney Prescott. But why do fans think that Hayden Panettiere will be back as Kirby Reed?

What we know about Scream 7 is limited, but fans are hyped for a number of legacy characters to appear. That includes David Arquette, who will appear despite Dewey's death in the fifth movie. Fans got hyped when a report by EW claimed Panettiere would once again be back as Kirby, but the outlet has since backtracked that claim. The correct reads:

What a bummer. While fans were hyped when Panettiere's Kirby returned in Scream VI, she seemingly won't appearing in Kevin Williamson's forthcoming slasher. Still, I bet some fans are going to keep their fingers crossed that the Heroes alum gets to have a third face off with Ghostface on the big screen. After all, the ending of Scream VI (which is streaming with a Paramount+ subscription) saw Kirby survive.

Given how passionate the Scream fanbase is, the discourse about Panettiere's role in the seventh movie is likely going to continue for the time being. After all, the above correction says that her role hasn't been confirmed... not that it's been all-out denied by the actor or the studio. So there's still a (small) chance that we'll see Kirby after all. Hey, a guy can dream!

Information about Scream 7 is slowly trickling out, resulting in a ton of hype around the slasher. OG Scream writer Kevin Williamson is directing his first installment in the franchise, and he'll once again be focusing the story on iconic scream queen Sidney Prescott. While Neve Campbell was noticeably missing from the sixth movie, she's expected to be back in full force.

While it remains to be seen if Kirby will appear, the movie is seemingly going to be jam-packed with legacy characters. Specifically ones who were killed off like Dewey, as well as Matthew Lillard's Stu Macher and Scott Foley's Roman Bridger. There's also two members of the Core Four returning: Jasmin Savoy Brown and Mason Gooding's Mindy and Chad Meeks-Martin.

Hayden Panettiere's Kirby Reed was a fan favorite character in Scream 4, which left her fate ambiguous. Directors of the 2022 movie revealed Kirby was alive in an easter egg, before she finally returned in Scream VI.

All will be revealed when Scream 7 hits theaters on February 27th as part of the 2026 movie release list. Since we're getting closer, hopefully we'll get footage and/or information soon.

The horror genre has been having a renaissance for years, to the joy of fans like myself. Some of the best horror movies have returned to theaters with new sequels, including Wes Craven's Scream. The seventh movie is one of the most highly anticipated upcoming horror movies, partly thanks to its inclusion of OGs like Matthew Lillard's Stu Macher. The 55 year-old actor recently shared his excitement over coming back, while also maintaining that the new slasher is 'not gonna ruin the franchise.' Well, that's a relief.

What we know about Scream 7 is very limited, but fans are excited to see a bunch of legacy characters appear. Fans are hyped Neve Campbell will be back as Sidney Prescott, but Lillard will also somehow return, despite Stu's death in the first movie. While appearing at Silver Scream Con (via Bloody Disgusting), he shared his reaction to getting the call, offering:

While Lillard had a sneaky cameo in 2022's Scream as the Ghostface with a flamethrower, Kevin Williamson's forthcoming slasher will seemingly bring back Stu. Exactly how this will work remains a mystery, but fans are hyped about seeing the fan favorite killer alongside iconic scream queen Neve Campbell.

There are countless questions about Scream 7, especially since Stu isn't the only legacy character returning from the dead. Scott Foley will be back as Roman Bridger, as will David Arquette, despite Dewey's brutal death in the 2022 movie. While we continue to wonder how these returns will go down, Lillard assured fans of the quality of the next sequel. In his words:

Well, that's a relief. Given the property's wild success and iconography, longtime fans like me don't want to see a bad sequel arrive and tarnish its legacy. Even though Neve Campbell wasn't in Scream VI, that sequel's plot twists, NYC setting, and brutal Ghostface(s) still made it a success.

While the pressure is on for Scream 7, there are a ton of OGs involved in the project. That includes director Kevin Williamson, who wrote the screenplay for the first two movies and served as a producer on the recent ones. If anyone understands how to make a good Scream movie it's him, which might be part of why Lillard is so confident about it.

All will be revealed when Scream 7 hits theaters on February 27th as part of the 2026 movie release list. Since it's just a few months away, hopefully we get more information about the slasher sooner rather than later... including how TF those dead characters are going to factor in.

The horror genre has been thriving for years now, with its renaissance resulting in some of the best horror movies returning with new sequels. That includes Wes Craven's Scream, and the forthcoming seventh movie is one of the most highly anticipated upcoming horror movies. Unfortunately, the new movie will be missing the Carpenter sisters, played by Jenna Ortega and Melissa Barrera. And Mindy Meeks-Martin actress Jasmin Savoy Brown recently got honest about just how stressful that casting shakeup was.

What we know about Scream 7 is limited, but fans are hyped Neve Campbell is returning as Sidney Prescott. Unfortunately Sam and Tara won't be back, with Barrera being fired from her role and Ortega departing herself. In an interview for a new book about Scream (via EW), Brown confirmed "it's been really sad and stressful" to deal with the situation, sharing:

It certainly seems like the Yellowjackets star wasn't happy with how Melissa Barrera was fired, specifically for speaking out against the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. And things got even more complicated when Jenna Ortega dropped out of Scream 7, originally citing a scheduling issue with Wednesday. Although she's since revealed that losing Barrera and the directors of the last two movies (which are streaming with a Paramount+ subscription) was also a big reason behind this decision.

Later in that same interview, which is part of Your Favorite Scary Movie: How the Scream Films Rewrote the Rules of Horror, Jasmin Savoy Brown spoke about the decision making process that went into returning as Mindy without her two co-stars. In her words:

After two movies, the Core Four has been embraced by fans. This name as given to the quartet of heroes/siblings who survived those titles: Sam and Tara Carpenter and Mindy and Chad Meeks-Martin. Only the latter tow are expected in Scream 7, with Mason Gooding set to reunite with his onscreen sister in the slasher.

Like Brown, I'm also hoping we get to see the Core Four back together on the big screen one day. I'm invested in these heroes after the last two movies, and it's definitely going to be strange when Scream 7 hits theaters without Jenna Ortega or Melissa Barrera's characters. Luckily Sidney and a number of other legacy characters will be there to pick up the slack.

Scream 7 is currently expected to arrive in theaters on February 27th as part of the 2026 movie release list.

Sarah Michelle Gellar has been a star of TV and film for decades now, and is best known for starring as the title character of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (which is streaming with a Hulu subscription). That's my favorite show of all time, and I've loved seeing SMG have a renaissance lately with a variety of exciting projects like Dexter: Original Sin and the Buffy reboot pilot. She also surprised people with her cameo in the new I Know What You Did Last Summer, but there's another legacy character I need to see her reprise ASAP: Cici Cooper from Scream 2.

Between returning as Helen Shivers in IKWYDLS (despite her death) and filming new scenes as Buffy Summers, Sarah Michelle Gellar is making a habit out of reprising her most famous horror roles. And since Scream 7 began filming in January, it seems like the perfect time for her to pop back in as Cici.

Scream 7 Is Already Bringing A Ton Of Legacy Characters Back.

Since SMG died in Scream 2 (which is streaming with a Max subscription), one would assume that would be the end of her time as Cici Cooper. But recent installments in the horror franchise have changed the rules, with Skeet Ulrich returning as a ghost version of Billy Loomis. This opened the door for more of these returns, which is exactly what is happening for the upcoming horror movie Scream 7.

What we know about Scream 7 is limited, but director Kevin Williamson is bringing back a ton of legacy characters... somehow. The following have already been confirmed online, to the confusion and delight of fans like myself: Matthew Lillard and Scott Foley, who were Ghostfaces Stu Macher and Roman Bridger. Additionally, David Arquette is set to return, despite Dewey's death in 2022's Scream. The latter is especially thrilling, since Scream VI was the only installment without his character physically present.

With so many dead characters set to appear in the next slasher, it seems logical that Cici could also show up. Unfortunately, Sarah Michelle Gellar confirmed she didn't get the call, despite being interested in joining the fun. Although, since we just got through months of her lying about returning in I Know What You Did Last Summer, maybe we should take the 48-year-old icon's comments with a grain of salt.

Sarah Michelle Gellar's chase scene as Cici is arguably one of the best scenes in Scream 2, despite her not being a leading role in the highly anticipated sequel. The same can also be said for Helen's death in I Know What You Did Last Summer, which is why SMG is one of the all-time scream queens ever. As such, bringing her back along with other legacy characters in Scream 7 just feels right. So I'm going to keep crossing my fingers that this actually happens.

Scream 7 is currently expected to arrive in theaters on February 27th as part of the 2026 movie release list. Fans will have to wait and see if more surprise cameos are included, as well as if Hulu orders the Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot to series.

With six months to go until on of the bloodiest 2026 release dates arrives, and there’s still much about the upcoming horror movies Scream 7 that we still don’t know, outside of the core cast and a smattering of returning former actors like Matthew Lillard and Scott Foley’s Roman Bridger from Scream 3. Many of the juiciest secrets will likely hold until fans are in theaters, but new franchise addition Michelle Randolph shared some fun (if vague) details about the sequel.

Appearing on IMDb’s Stars to Watch with a group of other popular young actors like Tyriq Withers and Sarah Catherine Hook , Randolph & Co. were asked about joining movie and TV adaptations, as well as joining franchises. This is where the Landman co-star was able to address how quickly her Scream 7 casting came together, and teased what fans can expect.

Randolph was indeed getting back into Landman mode as Ainsley Norris when her first major foray into slasher horror came about. In her words:

Ainsley does do a bit of screaming on Landman, but it's more the "Hell yeah, I'm partying at a strip club with my mom!" kind of screaming. Should still work well with a tonal change, though. Interestingly enough, Michelle Randolph isn't the only youthful Taylor Sheridan star to be joining the Scream franchise with its seventh film. She'll be joining 1883's Isabel May, whose Elsa Dutton experienced her own violent death.

It turns out Randolph was not a cinephile of Wes Craven's metatextual horror, and it was a quick cram sesh for the actress, who continued:

How awkward might it have been had she shown up on the Scream 7 set only to realize that she was the only one there who wasn't familiar with the ins and outs of Ghostface's legacy. Thankfully, she did her homework.

When it comes to the actual teases, Randolph makes it sound like the new movie will be a real smorgasbord of lore. (Smorgas-lore? Lore-gasbord?) In her words:

Sure, given that OG screenwriter Kevin Williamson is director with Neve Campbell's Sidney returning, a callback or two or three or four is expected. But I love that Michelle Randolph says there are "lots" of references to the original movie.

Those legacy callbacks very likely have something to do with the screenwriter saying Sidney's return is for very specific reasons. As well as why David Arquette's Dewey is returning, even if we weren't supposed to learn about that one so early.

I adore the way the Scream movies retain and resurface everything that's happened in the world of horror even outside the franchise itself. I might get annoyed if someone from a superhero or multi-sequel action franchise talked about how confusing a new project would be without knowledge of past films, but with Scream, I embrace labyrinthian plotlines with inside-baseball whodunnits. This has been my shit since 1996, so bring on all the callbacks, even if they make me feel old in the process.

Scream 7 is set to hit theaters on February 27, 2026.

I can say from experience that, in my opinion, some of the best romantic relationships are shared by two people who love sharing moments of chills and thrills with each other. In that same vein, I have a lot of respect and admiration for couples who have joined forces to create moments of chills and thrills for others, such as the stars and co-producers of Together, Dave Franco and Alison Brie.

The husband and wife duo are far from the first real-life couple to star in a horror movie together, and, because of the genuine onscreen chemistry they bring to the new 2025 movie, I sure hope they are not the last. In fact, let's begin my little breakdown of notable Hollywood power couples who made some great scary date movies over the years with the stars of Together.

Dave Franco And Alison Brie (Together)

Recent releases like the Oscar-winning The Substance and The Ugly Stepsister have paved the way for a golden era of body horror movies that continues with writer and director Michael Shanks' Together. The new horror movie stars the aforementioned Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, who find themselves growing too close for comfort when a mysterious force causes them to be involuntarily bound by flesh.

Echoing Eric Eisenberg's Together review, Franco and Brie portray the troubling circumstances of their characters' relationship, even those existing before the supernatural starts to make things worse, so flawlessly that you can't help but wonder about the state of their actual marriage. Of course, by the end, it becomes clear they possess more than enough chemistry to make this bizarre and unsettling, but also funny and even heartwarming thriller a satisfying and touching experience.

John Krasinski And Emily Blunt (A Quiet Place)

I believe 2018's A Quiet Place boasts one of the most astonishingly unique concepts for an alien invasion movie I have ever seen: a world overrun with malevolent, non-seeing extra-terrestrials, forcing the remains of humanity to live in silence. However, I also believe the key to its unnerving effectiveness lies in the lead performances by John Krasinski (who also co-writes and directs) and Emily Blunt.

As Lee and Evelyn Abbott, the beloved power couple, who wed in 2010 and have since had two children, deliver a compelling and authentic sense of devotion to one another and desperation to protect their family at all costs. Had Krasinski not cast his own wife to play his onscreen partner, the film's man-versus-monster suspense could have easily lacked the breathless urgency that made it an instant sci-fi movie classic.

Jeff Goldblum And Geena Davis (The Fly)

Together is not the first body horror flick to star a real-life couple, but it might be the first to involve both romantic leads experiencing the same grotesque situation first-hand. In David Cronenberg's 1986 version of The Fly, Jeff Goldblum's Dr. Seth Brundle slowly becomes a half-human, half-insect hybrid while the love of his life, Ronnie Quaife (Geena Davis), only witnesses the dehumanizing process in shock and heartbreak.

Goldblum and Davis were engaged at the time they shot the revered horror movie remake, having actually met on the set of a 1985 horror-comedy movie called Transylvania 6-5000, and tied the knot the following year, only to split in 1990, according to People. Their genuine affection for each other, which appears to have survived their divorce, based on their 2024 SAG Awards appearance, explodes on the screen, cementing The Fly as one of horror's most unforgettable romantic tragedies.

David Arquette And Courtney Cox (The Scream Movies)

Watching the Scream movies in order is fascinating in the way the cleverly meta slasher franchise traces two notable timelines in pop culture. The subsequent films not only illustrate the modern evolution of the horror genre, but also that of the relationship between two of its most famous stars, David Arquette and Courteney Cox.

The Friends cast member, playing journalist Gale Weathers, and the Dewey Riley actor met on the set of the 1996 original, were dating while they shot the sequel (after some encouragement from Wes Craven), and were married during the third one, but had split before reprising their characters as husband and wife in 2011's Scream 4. However, Cox has since referred to Arquette as her "best friend "(according to People), and that shows in their willingness to reunite and play their roles as divorcees in 2022's Scream, which saw Dewey succumb to Ghostface's knife. However, Arquette has somehow been cast in Scream 7, so it looks like the reign of Dewey and Gale is, thankfully, not over just yet.

Freddie Prinze Jr. And Sarah Michelle Gellar (I Know What You Did Last Summer)

Scream is not the only '90s slasher movie favorite from which romance bloomed behind the scenes. In I Know What You Did Last Summer, Freddie Prinze Jr.'s Ray Bronson may have been dating Jennifer Love Hewitt's Julie James, but the actor really had his eye on their co-star, Sarah Michelle Gellar.

After falling in love on the set of the 1997 thriller, they would later wed in 2002, which is the same year they shared a kiss as Fred and Daphne in the first live-action Scooby-Doo movie. Since Gellar's Helen did not survive the first Summer, the couple was not able to reunite for the arguably more fun 1998 sequel, but she would make a surprise cameo in the 2025 reboot, achieved through a dream sequence, that also allowed her and Prinze the opportunity to have a fun family trip in Australia, where the legacyquel as filmed, as she shared with the country's iteration of Today.

Eli Roth And Lorenza Izzo (Aftershock)

Until their divorce in 2018 after four years of marriage, horror multi-hyphenate Eli Roth and actor and model Lorenza Izzo were one of the genre's top power couples, collaborating on projects like Netflix's Hemlock Grove, The Green Inferno, Knock Knock, and The House with a Clock in Its Walls. Their personal and professional relationship began with a disaster thriller from 2012 called Aftershock.

In addition to co-writing and producing the thriller from director Nicolás López, Roth stars alongside Izzo as survivors of a deadly earthquake in Chile struggling to make it out of the ruined city safely. The Chilean-born actor shared with WWD that she was cast in a leading role when Roth discovered she could speak English and, after spending the entire shoot together and boasting a chemistry that comes through effectively in the film, they became more than scene partners.

It is celebrity couples like these, in addition to the likes of Stranger Things' Charlie Heaton and Natalia Dyer, who prove to me that sometimes the key to a great horror movie, especially ones in which romance plays a pivotal role, is casting two people whose love offscreen is so strong, it's scary.

One of my most anticipated movies on the 2025 schedule has finally arrived — the new horror film Together, starring real-life couple Alison Brie and Dave Franco. It’s not their first time in spooky cinema; horror fans will remember Brie’s turn as Rebecca Walters in the first franchise revival and one of the best entries, Scream 4. The Scream series has always sparked debates about who should survive Ghostface’s rampages, and the Mad Men alum just offered one of the spicier takes yet. And honestly… she might be onto something.

While the pair was promoting their new spooky flick on the Shut Up Evan podcast, the conversation turned to Wes Craven’s beloved horror series. Brie, whose character met a brutal end in the 2011 installment, didn’t hold back when asked about the franchise’s modern era and why so many of the core characters make it to the end. As the Community actress sees it:

She’s referring, of course, to the “Core Four,” characters from the 2022 reboot Scream and its sequel Scream VI. It consists of Melissa Barrera’s Sam, Jenna Ortega’s Tara, Mason Gooding’s Chad, and Jasmin Savoy Brown’s Mindy, all of whom survived both movies.

Franco joked that maybe his wife’s character could return, after all, Scream has brought back supposedly dead characters before, remember the hallucinations of Billy Loomis? Not to mention, there are plenty of rumors about several dead characters returning for the next installment. The GLOW veteran quipped, “Yeah, where’s my role in Scream 7?”

But when her husband reminded her that Scream (2022) already took out David Arquette’s Dewey Riley, a legacy character, the Hollywood-born A-lister wasn’t having it. She added:

It’s a slightly contradictory stance — trim down the new blood, but preserve the original trio, though fans of the classic Scream era will undoubtedly understand exactly where she’s coming from.

Here’s the thing: the early Scream movies made you feel like anyone could die. Randy in Scream 2. Cotton in Scream 3. Even side characters with cult followings weren’t safe. But in the current era, the “Core Four” have walked away from two back-to-back Ghostface massacres without losing a member.

Brie’s larger point seems to be that keeping the main survivors too safe risks losing one of the franchise’s best weapons: unpredictability. And in a series built on meta commentary about horror rules, predictability can be lethal, just not in the fun way.

As for what we know about Scream 7, we know Neve Campbell will return as Sidney Prescott after sitting out the last film, with original Scream writer Kevin Williamson directing. Due to behind-the-scenes disputes, we also know that the Core Four's Jenna Ortega and Melissa Barrera will not be in the movie. However, it has been confirmed (via ET) that Jasmin Savoy Brown and Mason Gooding will be back.

So, for at least one more installment, Ghostface could spare half of the Core Four by omission. Meanwhile, I'll be curious to see what happens to the other two in Scream 7.

The film, slated for the 2026 movie schedule on February 27, will also bring back Matthew Lillard’s Stu Macher and Scott Foley’s Roman Bridger despite their on-screen deaths.

Brie and Franco's horror movie Together is in theaters now, so be sure to check your local listings for show times.

As a student of journalism, a lifelong avid TV watcher, and a fan of late-night TV hosts, I have always been fascinated by the way television personalities are depicted in fiction. Sometimes these characters represent the best that the media can offer, while others serve as a mockery of the profession. Either way, I can’t get enough of them, and these are some of my favorites.

Ron Burgundy (Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy)

Most would agree that the best Will Ferrell character has to be the title role of his 2004 favorite, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. The former SNL star actually gave the world a taste of what it would be like if the charismatic, scotch-loving teleprompter loyalist were a real person when he hosted The Ron Burgundy Podcast.

Deborah Vance (Hacks)

Jean Smart has won multiple Emmys for her role in the HBO Max original comedy series, Hacks, as Deborah Vance, the host of Late Night and a hilarious, pitch-perfect representation of the business' intense, cutthroat nature.

Alan Partridge (Various)

Steve Coogan has portrayed Alan Partridge, the uproariously inept British TV personality he created with Armando Iannucci, in various projects. He debuted on the BBC radio program On the Hour, received his own mockumentary-style chat show Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge, led a sitcom called I'm Alan Partridge, and was the focus of a 2013 feature film called Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa, in which he is forced to be a hostage negotiator.

Murphy Brown (Murphy Brown)

The eponymous lead character from the long-running, beloved sitcom, Murphy Brown, is not only one of multi-Emmy-winning Candice Bergen's most iconic characters, but one of the most influential fictional female figures in news media, depicted as a trailblazer in her profession.

Howard Beale (Network)

Originally released in 1976, Network remains a disturbingly relevant commentary on news media and society in general, with much credit due to Peter Finch's bold, Oscar-winning performance as Howard Beale. That being said, you rarely hear of a broadcast journalist being as boldly direct and brutally honest about their feelings as he is these days.

Gale Weathers (Scream)

In 1996's slasher movie favorite, Scream, Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) was your typical sleazy, self-serving gossip reporter, but would slowly evolve into a professional with some tact in the sequels. Not to mention, few people in her field can claim to have the kind of first-hand experience with the deadly topics she discusses, having survived several Ghostface killers over the years.

Wayne Campbell And Garth Algar (Wayne's World)

Local cable access television had never been as cool (or cool at all, really) before Mike Myers and Dana Carvey debuted as Wayne Campbell and Garth Algar, who later became the stars of two beloved movies based on the Saturday Night Live sketch from which they originated.

Sue Ann Nivens (The Mary Tyler Moore Show)

Betty White was brilliant on The Mary Tyler Moore Show as Sue Ann Nivens, balancing her perky, kindly on-camera persona as host of The Happy Homemaker with her vindictive and highly competitive off-screen personality with incredible ease.

Robin Scherbatsky (How I Met Your Mother)

Robin Scherbatsky, How I Met Your Mother cast member Cobie Smulders' role on the hit sitcom, is a real go-getter in the world of broadcast journalism. She always opted to put her career before everything else, even if it cost her a few chances in the department of romance. At least, that was the case in earlier seasons.

Larry Sanders (The Larry Sanders Show)

During its run from 1992 to 1998 on HBO, few comedy series had a sharper satirical outlook on show business than the Emmy-winning The Larry Sanders Show. Co-creator Garry Shandling starred as the titular late-night talk show host, who is constantly at odds with behind-the-scenes shenanigans courtesy of staff members and celebrities playing wild versions of themselves.

Murray Franklin (Joker)

It is fitting that Robert De Niro stars in a DC Comics adaptation that heavily borrows from some of his grittiest roles, especially Taxi Driver's Travis Bickle. The acting legend appears in 2019's Joker opposite Joaquin Phoenix's Academy Award-winning role of Arthur Fleck as Murray Franklin, the host of the Gotham-based late-night program, Live!, who might not have survived the airwaves today with his meanspiritedness. Yet, I can't help but respect his bold approach to humor and showcasing risque topics.

Kent Brockman (The Simpsons)

One of Harry Shearer's funniest characters on The Simpsons is Kent Brockman, a Springfield-based TV editorialist who has no filter when it comes to sounding off his typically judgmental opinions.

Veronica Corningstone (Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy)

If Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy actually was inspired by a true story, as it (sort of) claims at the very beginning, Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) would have undoubtedly gone down in history as one of the most important figures of women's progress in the world of broadcast news.

Jack Delroy (Late Night With The Devil)

David Dastmalchian gives one of his career-best performances as infamous TV legend Jack Delroy, who has a life-changing brush with the supernatural in Late Night with the Devil. I imagine I would have been a fan of the Nite Owls host, at least right up until the night he brings his program to a screeching halt by conjuring a demonic spirit during a live broadcast on Halloween 1977.

Damon Killian (The Running Man)

I believe the eponymous, deadly reality competition show from the 1987 adaptation of Stephen King's dystopian novel, The Running Man, is abhorrent, and I pray it never becomes a reality. However, one thing I can commend it for is hiring a host as charismatic and enthusiastic as Damon Killian, played by former Family Feud emcee Richard Dawson.

Will McAvoy (The Newsroom)

Jeff Daniels' Emmy-winning role as Will McAvoy on creator Aaron Sorkin's The Newsroom had the courage to call out dishonesty and corruption when few others would dare, which is a quality more TV journalists in the real world could certainly benefit from.

Enid "The Church Lady" Strict (Saturday Night Live)

Dana Carvey is the actor behind a few of the funniest recurring Saturday Night Live characters, including, arguably, his signature role as Enid "The Church Lady" Strict. No matter how many times she uttered her signature catchphrases, the host of a faith-based talk show called Church Chat, which was mainly devoted to accusing her guests of worshipping Satan, was always a joy to laugh at, which certainly makes her "special."

Space Ghost (Space Ghost Coast To Coast)

Making a relatively obscure Hanna-Barbera cartoon character the host of his own talk show, featuring real-life celebrity guests, is a pretty random idea, I will admit. That being said, how cool would it be if a superhero actually did broadcast a talk show from outer space, like on Space Ghost Coast to Coast?

Katherine Newbury (Late Night)

The 2019 comedy film Late Night takes audiences behind the scenes of the world of late-night TV, focusing on the unlikely bond between the eponymous host of Tonight with Katherine Newbury, played by Emma Thompson, and one of her writers, Molly Patel (Mindy Kaling).

Perd Hapley (Parks And Recreation)

A Parks and Recreation side character whom I cannot get enough of is Perd Hapley (Jay Jackson), the host of the brilliantly titled program, Ya Heard? with Perd. I would watch the Pawnee, Indiana-based, hilariously matter-of-fact broadcaster religiously if his show were real.

Gordon Deitrich (V For Vendetta)

The 2005 adaptation of legendary comic book writer Alan Moore's dystopian graphic novel, V for Vendetta, is a deeply bleak story, but it does manage to maintain a few glimmers of hope in the form of characters like Gordon Deitrich. The comedian, played by Stephen Fry, is literally murdered for his willingness to mock the United Kingdom's fascist leader, Adam Sutler (John Hurt), on his satirical program.

Alex Levy (The Morning Show)

Jennifer Aniston would not be who she is if not for her role in the Friends cast as Rachel Green, but the actor has never quite given a performance as powerful as that of Alex Levy on the acclaimed Apple TV+ original TV show, The Morning Show. The consummate professional makes it a personal goal of hers to maintain control of the eponymous news program she has anchored for years when her share of the power over it begins to fall through the cracks.

Pat Dubek (The Other Two)

Molly Shannon's character on the Emmy-nominated Comedy Central series, The Other Two, makes her show, Pat! The Pat Dubek Show, a memorable experience with her endlessly upbeat demeanor and willingness to take phone calls from her children, including her world-famous pop star son, while on the air.

Tom Jumbo-Grumbo (Bojack Horseman)

One of the key elements that makes Netflix's show business satire Bojack Horseman one of the best animated TV shows of all time is the incredible line-up of surprising talents in the voice cast. For instance, former MSNBC commentator Keith Olbermann lends his voice to several episodes as a talking, anthropomorphic whale named Tom Jumbo-Grumbo, who is a host for the network MSNBSea.

Diondre Cole (Saturday Night Live)

There are many celebrities who have a good reason to be annoyed by Diondre Cole, the host of a unique BET discussion program called What Up With That?, especially former Fleetwood Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham (portrayed by Bill Hader). However, I personally cannot get enough of Kenan Thompson's hilarious recurring Saturday Night Live character and his unparalleled energy, no matter how terribly he struggles to conduct an interview without rudely interrupting his guests with another banging jam session.

Danny Tanner And Rebecca Donaldson (Full House)

At the beginning of the long-running family sitcom Full House, Bob Saget's character, widowed single father Danny Tanner, was introduced as a TV news reporter. In later seasons, he becomes the co-host of a local morning talk show called Wake Up, San Francisco, alongside Rebecca Donaldson (Lori Loughlin), who would eventually become his housemate when she marries his brother-in-law, Jesse (John Stamos).

George Papadopolis (Webster)

Alex Karras' character from the hit sitcom, Webster, in which he and his wife, Katherine (Susan Clark), become the guardians to their young godson (played by Emmanuel Lewis), must not have been much of a challenge for him to portray. Much like Karras himself, George Papadopolis was a former professional football player who went on to have a career in broadcasting.

Andy "Johnny Karate" Dwyer (Parks And Recreation)

In later seasons of NBC's beloved mockumentary sitcom, Parks and Recreation, Chris Pratt's character, Andy, becomes the host of his own children's program. His alter ego, Johnny Karate, is someone I think I would have loved to grow up with, and I probably would have shown him to my children as well.

Franklin Montague (Atlanta)

One of the best episodes of Atlanta, the clever, experimental, Emmy-winning "B.A.N.," is structured to appear as a snippet of programming from the eponymous network with a focus on Black audiences. Alano Miller guest stars as Franklin Montague, the host of his own self-titled talk show on B.A.N., who is clearly guilty of baiting his guests with combative rhetoric, but at least he manages to keep his show interesting.

Wally Sparks (Meet Wally Sparks)

While 1997's Meet Wally Sparks is widely considered to be one of the weaker of comedian Rodney Dangerfield's films, it is still a Rodney Dangerfield movie, after all. If the title character, a veteran tabloid television reporter, were real, I have no doubt that I would tune into his program on a regular basis just to hear him tell one of his priceless one-liners.

Betty Caruso And Jodi Deltz (Saturday Night Live)

One of the funniest catchphrases from Saturday Night Live comes from Maya Rudolph as Jodi Deitz, who often complains about her husband's frequent tendencies for moronic behavior, only to tearfully proclaim, "But I love him!" In fact, Jodi's husband is one of various recurring topics that she and fellow New York housewife Betty Caruso (Amy Poehler) like to boisterously sound off on as the co-hosts of a local talk show called Bronx Beat.

Dave Skylark (The Interview)

James Franco gives one of the funniest performances of his career in directors Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's 2014 comedy, The Interview, as Dave Skylark, who discovers that he is the favorite TV personality of none other than Kim Jong-Un (Randall Park). Little does the leader of North Korea know, however, that, after he invites the talk show host and his producer (played by Rogen) to visit his home, the CIA has recruited them to help carry out his assassination.

What fans know about Scream 7 is limited, but we do know the movie is scheduled to slash its way onto the 2026 movie schedule. Now, one of the franchise's newest stars is giving us a glimpse behind the scenes of this legendary horror series. Among the crop of newcomers that have recently joined the legendary IP is Joel McHale, who plays Sydney Prescott’s husband, Mark, in the upcoming film. McHale finally opened up about what it’s like to work with Neve Campbell and more while discussing his experience working on the upcoming horror movie.

Recently, Joel McHale chatted with Collider for a detailed interview about his time in the horror genre. The actor mentioned the kind of "energy" and "restraint" it takes to shine in a scary movie, and also shared some thoughts on Scream 7, talking about how seriously he takes the opportunity to work with such a fantastic lineup of talented people. He shared with the outlet:

For McHale, who’s a lifelong fan of the best horror slasher flicks, working on the beloved '90s horror franchise was nothing short of a dream. Being a horror fan myself, I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel a bit of FOMO when reading McHale's comments. Those sentiments also suggest that he was over the moon about being on set, and he was shocked over how quickly everything fell into place:

Joel McHale mentioned that when he was a student at the University of Washington, he loved watching all the Scream movies. During his interview, he wrapped things up by discussing his connection to the franchise, what sparked his interest in it, and how being in one of the best horror movies has been a lifelong dream, finally coming true:

Joel McHale, with his dry and sarcastic persona, seems like a perfect fit for the horror franchise, which is known for blending gory kills with side-splitting jokes. I, for one, cannot wait to see what he brings to this long-running franchise, particularly to the character of Sydney Prescott’s husband, Mark, not to be confused with the other Mark, played by Patrick Dempsey in the third film. (That latter Mark won't be returning.) I'm hopeful that McHale will be an excellent addition to the cast of legacy stars returning for the seventh installment.

Scream 7 is set to hit theaters early next year, on February 27. Until then, perhaps revisiting the most recent entry, Scream VI, (which is now streaming with a Paramount+ subscription) is a great way to prep for the new movie.