Scream’s Skeet Ulrich Revealed Melissa Barrera’s Sam Was Going To Turn Into Ghostface, And I’ve Got Serious FOMO

Melissa Barrera in the trailer for Scream VI
(Image credit: Paramount Pictures)

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:

I've been vocal about that. I'm not. When we talked about coming back for 5, it was a three-picture arc for Billy Loomis to slowly turn his daughter into the killer. Obviously, those things didn't pan out, given certain things that happened. But, no, I know nothing about the seventh.

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!

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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.

Skeet Ulrich as Billy in Scream

(Image credit: Dimension Films.)

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.

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Corey Chichizola
Movies Editor

Corey was born and raised in New Jersey. Graduated with degrees theater and literature from Ramapo College of New Jersey. After working in administrative theater for a year in New York, he started as the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. He's since been able to work himself up to reviews, phoners, and press junkets-- and is now able to appear on camera with some of his favorite actors... just not as he would have predicted as a kid. He's particularly proud of covering horror franchises like Scream and Halloween, as well as movie musicals like West Side Story. Favorite interviews include Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Jamie Lee Curtis, and more. 

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