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:
Not even my wife. Not even my kids,. One of the joys of this franchise is sitting in the dark with the entire world discovering what the twist is this time. To ruin that for anyone is to ruin one of the great joys of going to the cinema.
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.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
