Cody

It’s that time again. With the calendar about to flip over to a fresh, new year, we have compliled a list of some of the most interesting horror movies that are scheduled to be released over the next twelve months. And here it is, the 2026 Horror Preview:

WE BURY THE DEAD – Theatrical, January 2

From Zak Hilditch, writer/director of the Stephen King adaptation 1922, comes “a story about grief, loss, and the undead.” Daisy Ridley of the Star Wars franchise takes on the role of Ava, a desperate woman whose husband is missing in the aftermath of a catastrophic military experiment. Hoping to find him alive, Ava joins a “body retrieval unit,” but her search takes a chilling turn when the corpses she’s burying start showing signs of life. Ridley is joined in the cast by Brenton Thwaites (Titans) and Mark Coles Smith (Mystery Road: Origin). JoBlo’s own Chris Bumbray had the chance to see the movie a while back and wasn’t overly impressed by it (you can read his 6/10 review HERE), writing that “with so much zombie content out there, it’s very difficult to add anything new to the genre. Inevitably, this movie doesn’t manage to overcome the familiarity of the genre, but even still, it is mostly entertaining for much of its running time thanks to the ace technical packaging, and good performances from Ridley and Thwaites. It’s solid but unspectacular. “

PRIMATE – Theatrical, January 9

At the helm of Primate is genre regular Johannes Roberts, who has previously directed Hellbreeder, Darkhunters, Forest of the Damned, F, Roadkill, Storage 24, The Other Side of the Door, 47 Meters Down, The Strangers: Prey at Night, 47 Meters Down: Uncaged, and Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City. He also contributed a segment to the horror anthology V/H/S/99. Roberts has written the Primate screenplay with his frequent collaborator Ernest Riera. In this one, a group of friends’ tropical vacation turns into a terrifying, primal tale of horror and survival. If you’d like more information on what’s going on, you can check out the 8/10 review from JoBlo’s own Mike Holtz at THIS LINK. He described the film as “an unapologetic blood bath of fun” that’s about a rabies-crazed chimp. Oscar-winner Troy Kotsur (CODA) stars alongside Johnny Sequoyah (Dexter: New Blood), Jessica Alexander (Amadeus), Victoria Wyant (My Fault: London), Benjamin Cheng (d’ILLUSION: The Houdini Musical), Gia Hunter (Sherlock and Daughter), Miguel Torres Umba (National Theatre co-production Kin), Kae Alexander (Ready Player One), Tienne Simon (Grime Kids), Charlie Mann (Lazarus), newcomer Amina Abdi, and Albert Magashi (National Theatre Live: Dear England).

28 YEARS LATER PART II: THE BONE TEMPLE – Theatrical, January 16

28 Days Later director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland finally reunited to make a sequel to their zombie (or, if you prefer, infected people) movie classic. 28 Years Later, which was meant to launch a whole trilogy of 28 Days Later sequels, reached theatres at the end of June 2025, and the second chapter in the trilogy, 28 Years Later Part II: The Bone Temple, will help us kick off the new year. Garland also wrote the screenplays for the sequels that will come after 28 Years Later, but Boyle passed the helm over to Candyman and The Marvels director Nia DaCosta for the sequel. (He might circle back for the trilogy capper.) A lot of viewers seemed to find 28 Years Later to be underwhelming, but the first reactions to the sequel have described the new film as brutal, bonkers, and brilliant.

KILLER WHALE – Theatrical, Digital, and VOD, January 16 

Virginia Gardner of Halloween, Fall, and A Breed Apart dives into aquatic horror with Killer Whale, which was directed by Jo-Anne Brechin from a screenplay she crafted with Katharine E. McPhee (no, that Katharine McPhee is not the same person as the singer who was on American Idol.) The synopsis: Hold your breath as you witness revenge rise from the deep. After a life-shattering tragedy, Trish tries to comfort her best friend, Maddie, by taking her on a spectacular adventure in a private lagoon halfway across the world. Their peaceful retreat soon becomes a terrifying fight to stay alive when the ocean’s most bloodthirsty predator seeks vengeance for a brutal life in captivity. Mel Jarnson (Mortal Kombat), Mitchell Hope (Descendants), Ron Smyck (Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire), Scott James George (Thor: Love and Thunder), Isaac Crawley (Sacrifice), Aliandra Calabrese (Joe vs. Carole), and Mia Grunwald (Designing Christmas with You) round out the cast.

NIGHT PATROL – Theatrical, January 16

Starring Jermaine Fowler (The Blackening), Justin Long (Tusk), wrestler CM Punk (Girl on the Third Floor), Dermot Mulroney (Young Guns), RJ Cyler (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl), Freddie Gibbs (Down With The King), YG (White Boy Rick), Flying Lotus (Ash), Jon Oswald (Lowlife), and Nicki Micheaux (Lowlife), director Ryan Prows’ Night Patrol follows an LAPD officer (Fowler) who must put aside his differences with the area’s street gangs when he discovers a local police task force is harboring a horrific secret that endangers the residents of the housing projects he grew up in. Long plays the officer’s partner, recruited as a legacy into night patrol. Cyler stars as the officer’s brother, who sees what he isn’t supposed to see, while Mulroney plays Long’s character’s father, a sergeant with many secrets. Punk rounds out the cast as the sergeant’s brutal right-hand man. Prows wrote the script with Shaye Ogbonna, Tim Cairo, and Jake Gibson. This quartet previously collaborated on the screenplay for Prows’ feature directorial debut, the quirky crime thriller Lowlife.

RETURN TO SILENT HILL – Theatrical, January 23

Brotherhood of the Wolf and Silent Hill director Christophe Gans’ new Silent Hill movie Return to Silent Hill, which is said to be “totally independent from the two previous movies” in the film franchise, is based on the video game Silent Hill 2. The story follows James, a man broken after being separated from his one true love. When a mysterious letter calls him back to Silent Hill in search of her, he finds a once-recognizable town transformed by an unknown evil. As James descends deeper into the darkness, he encounters terrifying figures both familiar and new and begins to question his own sanity as he struggles to make sense of reality and hold on long enough to save his lost love. The film stars Jeremy Irvine (Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again) and Hannah Emily Anderson (Jigsaw).

UNTITLED HOME INVASION ROMANCE – Digital, January 27

Directed by American Pie legend Jason Biggs, who also stars in the film, the comedy thriller Untitled Home Invasion Romance (that does seem to be the final title) will tell us the following story: With his marriage on the rocks, Kevin whisks his wife Suzie away on a romantic getaway with a wildly misguided plan: fake a break-in and play the hero. But when things spiral and someone turns up dead, Kevin finds himself at the center of a murder investigation, with lies piling up faster than the alibis. Biggs’s co-stars include Meaghan Rath (Hawaii Five-0), Anna Konkle (PEN15), Justin H. Min (Beef), and Arturo Castro (Broad City).

SEND HELP – Theatrical, January 30

Rachel McAdams reteams with her Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness director Sam Raimi for a “really outrageous” survival horror thriller from the writers of Freddy vs. Jason and Friday the 13th 2009, Damian Shannon and Mark Swift. (With some revisions by A Quiet Place writers Scott Beck and Bryan Woods.) Deadline mentioned, “the film is described as a two-hander horror thriller set on an island, falling somewhere between Rob Reiner’s Stephen King adaptation Misery and Robert Zemeckis’ classic Castaway.” They reported that the film is a survival horror thriller about two colleagues who become stranded on a deserted island, the only survivors of a plane crash. On the island, they must overcome past grievances and work together to survive, but ultimately, it’s a battle of wills and wits to make it out alive. McAdams is joined in the cast by Dylan O’Brien (The Maze Runner), Chris Pang (Interior Chinatown), and Dennis Haysbert (24).

WORLDBREAKER – Theatrical, January 30

 Brad Anderson, whose credits include Session 9 and The Call, directed the sci-fi action creature feature Worldbreaker, which is described as being “a pulse-pounding sci-fi action thriller about survival, sacrifice, and a young woman’s fight to step out of the shadows and into the war she was born to face.” Here’s the synopsis: After the Breakers rose—monsters that infect and twist their victims—men fell first, leaving women to lead the fight. Willa’s mother is one of the war’s fiercest warriors; her father, a battle-scarred veteran, hides with Willa on a remote island, training her to survive. Their fragile peace is shattered when a mysterious girl drifts ashore. Willa, longing for connection, shelters her in secret—until the truth emerges and danger follows. With Breakers closing in, Willa must rely on her father’s training and her own courage to survive. The stars Milla Jovovich (Resident Evil), Luke Evans (Beauty and the Beast), Billie Boullet (The Worst Witch), and Mila Harris (Coyotes).

IRON LUNG – Theatrical, January 30

Content creator and entrepreneur Markiplier has written, directed, and self-financed a horror film based on the video game Iron Lung, created by David Szymanski, and he also stars in the movie. Here’s the synopsis, straight from Markiplier: The stars are gone. The planets have disappeared. Only individuals aboard space stations or starships were left to give the end a name — The Quiet Rapture. After decades of decay and crumbling infrastructure, the Consolidation of Iron has made a discovery on a barren moon designated AT-5. An ocean of blood.
Hoping to discover desperately needed resources they immediately launch an expedition. A submarine is crafted and a convict is welded inside. Due to the pressure and depth of the ocean the forward viewport has been encased in metal. If successful, they will earn their freedom. If not, another will follow. This will be the 13th expedition. Markiplier is also self-distributing the film, aiming to get it into 50 to 100 independent theaters on its opening weekend.

GRIZZLY NIGHT – Digital and VOD, January 30

Directed by Burke Doeren, Grizzly Night is a fact-based “nature run amok” movie with the following synopsis: Based on true events, this terrifying survival thriller follows a rookie park ranger thrust into the fight of her life when Glacier National Park becomes the scene of deadly grizzly attacks. As panic spreads and communication breaks down, she must lead a group of frightened strangers through the darkness, confronting both the untamed wilderness and her own fears. What begins as a quiet summer evening turns into a night of chaos that changes the nation’s understanding of wildlife forever. Charles Esten (Outer Banks), Brec Bassinger (Stargirl), Oded Fehr (The Mummy), Jack Griffo (The Thundermans), Josh Zuckerman (Oppenheimer), Joel Johnstone (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), and Matt Lintz (Ms. Marvel) star.

TWISTED – Digital, February 6

Originally announced under the title The Monster, this horror thriller from director Darren Lynn Bousman (who’s best known for directing Saw II, Saw III, Saw IV, and Spiral: From the Book of Saw) tells the story of two millennials who make quick money by leasing incredible New York City apartments they don’t own to people who don’t know they are being scammed. The con works brilliantly until they run into an apartment owner with a dark secret who flips the game on them. Djimon Hounsou of A Quiet Place Part II and A Quiet Place: Day One stars alongside Lauren LaVera, who played heroine Sienna in Terrifier 2 and Terrifier 3, Alicia Witt (Longlegs), Gina Philips (Jeepers Creepers), Neal McDonough (Band of Brothers), Mia Healey (The Wilds), Michael Lombardi (The Deuce), David Call (Insidious: The Red Door), Victor Del Rio (Precognito), Cedric Benjamin (Luke Cage), Zac Jaffee (Hustlers), Renés Rivera (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier), Hari Bhaskar (First Shift), Kristina Krasniqi (Celebrity Ghost Stories), and rapper Jacob Lukas Anderson, a.k.a. Prof.

DRACULA – Theatrical, February 6

Director Luc Besson’s “big-budget reimagining” of the Dracula concept was given a theatrical release in the summer of 2025, but won’t be reaching North American theatres until February. The story follows Dracula as he connects with a woman in Belle Epoque Paris, who resembles his beloved wife Elisabeta, who died in mid-15th century Transylvania. Per legend, it was Elisabeta’s suicide that led Romanian ruler Prince Vlad III (the real-life inspiration for Dracula) to forsake God and embrace life as a vampire. The action moves between time and the settings of Dracula’s castle in Romania’s Transylvanian Mountains and Belle Epoque Paris, which substitutes Stoker’s original UK settings of Whitby and London. The Paris-set scenes in the second part of the film unfold in the lead up to July 14, 1989, as the city gears up to celebrate the centenary of the French Revolution. The title character is played by Caleb Landry Jones, who just worked with Besson on his previous film, Dogman.

THE STRANGERS: CHAPTER 3 – Theatrical, February 6

Director Renny Harlin shot an entire trilogy of Strangers movies at the same time, and while there was a point when it looked like Lionsgate might be releasing all three of the movies within 2024, that idea was clearly pushed aside. The Strangers: Chapter 1 (read our review HERE) reached theatres back in May of 2024, and The Strangers: Chapter 2 (read that review HERE) didn’t come along until September of 2025. Thankfully, the wait for The Strangers: Chapter 3 won’t be as long. Madelaine Petsch (Riverdale) stars in this trilogy and is joined in the cast by the likes of Richard Brake (31), Froy Gutierrez (Cruel Summer), Rachel Shenton (All Creatures Great and Small), Gabriel Basso (Hillbilly Elegy), and Ema Horvath (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power). The Strangers: Chapter 1 centered on Petsch’s character as she drives cross-country with her longtime boyfriend (Gutierrez) to begin a new life in the Pacific Northwest. When their car breaks down in Venus, Oregon, they’re forced to spend the night in a secluded Airbnb, where they are terrorized from dusk till dawn by three masked strangers. Lionsgate plans from there to expand the story in new and unexpected ways with its sequels. Here’s the synopsis for Chapter 3: This final chapter delves into newer and darker territory, the franchise’s darkest descent yet — a ruthless thriller with scares that deliver. The Strangers: Chapter 3 closes the trilogy with a full-circle reckoning that expands the mythology of the iconic masked killers. Madelaine Petsch returns as Maya for the Final Girl’s long-awaited vengeance, delivering a final chapter that fans won’t want to miss. Tethered by a frightening conclusion, Maya and the Strangers are locked on an unavoidable, unforgiving collision course — a showdown that proves they’re far from strangers now.

WHISTLE – Theatrical, February 6

Dafne Keen of Logan and His Dark Materials and Sophie Nélisse of Yellowjackets and The Book Thief star in Whistle, the latest horror film from The Hallow and The Nun director Corin Hardy. Scripted by Owen Egerton from his own short story, Whistle has the following synopsis: A misfit group of unwitting high school students stumble upon a cursed object, an ancient Aztec Death Whistle. They discover that blowing the whistle and the terrifying sound it emits will summon their future deaths to hunt them down. As the body count rises, the friends investigate the origins of the deadly artifact in a desperate effort to stop the horrifying chain of events that they have set in motion. Keen and Nélisse are joined in the cast by Sky Yang (Rebel Moon), Percy Hynes White (Wednesday), and Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead). 

PSYCHO KILLER – Theatrical, February 20

Psycho Killer is based on a screenplay written by Se7en scribe Andrew Kevin Walker. Gavin Polone, producer of Zombieland and the Walker-scripted 8MM, is at the helm of the film, with Georgina Campbell (Barbarian) and Logan Miller (Escape Room) in lead roles and 6’5″+ former professional wrestler James Preston Rogers in the title role. Campbell is taking on the role of Jane Thorne, a police officer who makes it her mission to take down a serial killer referred to on the news as the ‘Satanic Slasher,’ following the murder of her state trooper husband. We had previously heard that Miller’s character is Marvin, a goth-type nebbish who works for the mysterious Pendleton in his massive mansion. Pendleton is so mysterious, Deadline didn’t even explain who they were referencing when they dropped that description. Months later, in their release date report, they credited Miller with playing the ill-fated state trooper husband… so this movie is so shrouded in mystery, even Deadline is confused.

THIS IS NOT A TEST – Theatrical, February 20

Director Adam MacDonald (Backcountry, Pyewacket, Out Come the Wolves) teams with Totally Killer and Heart Eyes star Olivia Holt for an apocalyptic horror thriller that’s based on a YA novel by bestselling author Courtney Summers and described as “The Breakfast Club meets 28 Weeks Later.” The film follows Sloane and a small group of her classmates who take cover in their high school to escape their suddenly apocalyptic hometown. As danger relentlessly pounds on the doors, Sloane begins to see the world through the eyes of people who actually want to live and takes matters into her own hands. Holt is joined in the cast by Froy Gutierrez (The Strangers: Chapter 1), Luke MacFarlane (Bros), Corteon Moore (Overcompensating), Chloe Avakian (John Wayne Gacy), and Carson MacCormac (Clown in a Cornfield).

SCREAM 7 – Theatrical, February 27

After a behind-the-scenes shake-up that saw the exit of Scream (2022) and Scream VI stars Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega from the franchise (along with the director who was originally signed to direct Scream 7, Christopher Landon), this slasher sequel has been reworked to focus on original heroine Sidney Prescott, played by Neve Campbell. Original Scream writer Kevin Williamson directed the film, working from a screenplay by returning writer Guy Busick, who crafted the story with his co-writer on the fifth and sixth films, James Vanderbilt. Campbell is joined in the cast by Isabel May (1883), Mckenna Grace (Ghostbusters: Afterlife), Grace’s Ghostbusters co-star Celeste O’Connor, Asa Germann (Gen V), Sam Rechner (The Fabelmans), Anna Camp (Pitch Perfect), Mark Consuelos (Riverdale), fellow franchise star Courteney Cox, Joel McHale (Community), and Ethan Embray (The Devil’s Candy). Although two of the “core four” characters established in the previous two movies are no longer around, Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown are back… and so are Matthew Lillard and Scott Foley, who played Ghostface killers in the original Scream and Scream 3, respectively, and did not appear to make it out of those movies alive. David Arquette is also back as the dearly departed Dewey, who exited the world of the living in the fifth movie. It hasn’t been revealed how these dead characters are making a comeback.

THE BRIDE! – Theatrical, March 6

Writer/director Maggie Gyllenhaal‘s The Bride! is a new take on the concept of the 1935 classic The Bride of Frankenstein. Starring Peter Sarsgaard (Garden State), Penelope Cruz (Vanilla Sky), Annette Bening (American Beauty), Julianne Hough (Rock of Ages), John Magaro (September 5), Jeannie Berlin (The Heartbreak Kid), and Gyllenhaal’s brother Jake Gyllenhaal (Donnie Darko), with Jessie Buckley (Men) as The Bride and Christian Bale (The Dark Knight) as Frankenstein’s Monster, The Bride! has the following synopsis: A lonely Frankenstein travels to 1930s Chicago to seek the aide of a Dr. Euphronius in creating a companion for himself. The two reinvigorate a murdered young woman and the Bride is born. She is beyond what either of them intended, igniting a combustible romance, the attention of the police and a wild and radical social movement. Bening plays Dr. Euphronius. Sarsgaard has denied the rumors that the movie is a musical, but also admitted that there are some dance routines.

TOUCH ME – Theatrical, March 20

Written and directed by Addison Heimann, Touch Me is described as being “a wacky, wild, sensual homage to Japanese exploitation films.” Starring Olivia Taylor Dudley (The Magicians), Lou Taylor Pucci (Evil Dead), Jordan Gavaris (Orphan Black), Marlene Forte (A Haunted House), and Paget Brewster (Criminal Minds), it tells the story of two cringe millennials, Joey and Craig, who do everything in their power to do absolutely nothing. Of course they have capital T childhood trauma, but so does everyone, so like, judge them however you like. Seriously, JUDGE THEM. One regular day, Joey’s super hot alien ex, Brian, comes back into town begging for her to forgive him and come back to his desert mansion for the weekend. With nothing better to do (and also a pretty unfortunate sewer explosion in Craig’s house), the two trepidatiously accept. Also the fact that Brian’s slimy sexual tentacle appendage removes anxiety and depression maybe helps solidify their decision. But at the house, under Brian’s veneer of healing is a sinister plot filled with murder, mayhem, and blood. Then again, maybe they can all get along in the most glorious throuple you’ve ever seen. A press release lets us know that this is “a psychosexual horror-comedy with 100% old-school practical effects, about the nature of co-dependent friendships and how far we are willing to go for a slice of happiness.”

THEY WILL KILL YOU – Theatrical, March 27

Director Andy Muschietti and his producer / sister Barbara Muschietti, the filmmaking team behind Mama and the $1 billion grossing adaptations of Stephen King’s It, recently teamed up with Skydance to form a new horror label called Nocturna, and the first project to come out of the Nocturna partnership is the “blood-soaked, high-octane horror-action-comedy” They Will Kill You. Zazie Beetz, whose credits include Joker, Bullet Train, and Deadpool 2, stars as a woman who answers a help wanted ad to be a housekeeper in a mysterious high-rise in New York City, not realizing she is entering a community that has seen a number of disappearances over the years and may be under the grip of a Satanic cult. Beetz is joined in the cast by Patricia Arquette (True Romance), Tom Felton of the Harry Potter franchise, Heather Graham of Boogie Nights and Suitable Flesh, and Myha’la of Industry and Bodies Bodies Bodies. Arquette’s character is one of the leads, the head of the co-op. Felton is a member of the cult. Kirill Sokolov – who is said to be known for his dark sense of humor – directed the film from a screenplay he wrote with Alex Litvak.

READY OR NOT 2: HERE I COME – Theatrical, March 27

Six years ago, genre regular Samara Weaving starred in a very cool horror comedy called Ready or Not, which was directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, who went on to make the two most recent Scream sequels and the “Dracula’s daughter” movie Abigail. Now, the team has come back together for Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, where Weaving is joined in the cast by Kathryn Newton (who worked with the directors on Abigail), Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Elijah Wood (Lord of the Rings), Shawn Hatosy (The Faculty), Néstor Carbonell (Lost), Kevin Durand (also from Abigail), Kara Wooten (Revival), Juan Pablo Romero (Please, After You), Varun Saranga (Wynonna Earp), Masa Lizdek (Simulant), Nadeem Umar-Khitab (Wedding Season), Daniel Beirne (Ginny & Georgia), Antony Hall (Run the Burbs), Olivia Cheng (Warrior), and legendary filmmaker David Cronenberg. Moments after surviving an all-out attack from the Le Domas family, Grace (Samara Weaving) discovers she’s reached the next level of the nightmarish game — and this time with her estranged sister Faith (Kathryn Newton) at her side. Grace has one chance to survive, keep her sister alive, and claim the High Seat of the Council that controls the world. Four rival families are hunting her for the throne, and whoever wins rules it all.

THE YETI – Theatrical and Digital, April 10

From the writing and directing duo of Gene Gallerano and William Pisciotta comes The Yeti, which tells the following story: Merriell Sunday Sr. and Hollis Bannister vanished in Alaska. Ellie and Merriell Jr. mount a search, but an ancient threat stalks their expedition into the wilderness, hunting them as they seek the truth behind the disappearances. Brittany Allen (Dexter: Original Sin), Eric Nelsen (1883), Jim Cummings (The Last Stop in Yuma County), Christina Bennett Lind (The Lonely Man with the Ghost Machine), and Linc Hand (42) star with William Sadler (Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight) and Corbin Bernsen (Major League).

THE MUMMY – Theatrical, April 17

Don’t let the title fool you: this movie is coming our way from New Line Cinema, so it’s a “new take on the horror trope revolving around the ancient mummified undead” that has nothing to do with the classic Universal horror property (in fact – don’t be surprised if it gets renamed). Evil Dead Rise director Lee Cronin teamed with Atomic Monster and Blumhouse Productions for this one, which Cronin said “will be unlike any Mummy movie you ever laid eyeballs on before. I’m digging deep into the earth to raise something very ancient and very frightening.” Jack Reynor (Midsommar), Laia Costa (Victoria), May Calamawy (Moon Knight), Veronica Falcón (Queen of the South), Hayat Kamille (Vikings: Valhalla), and May Elghety (Clash) star. Details on their characters have not been revealed. We do know that Reynor will not be playing the mummy in this film.

HOKUM – Theatrical, May 1

Adam Scott (Severance) stars in writer/director Damian McCarthy’s Irish supernatural horror film Hokum, which tells the story of a horror novelist who visits a remote Irish inn to spread his parents’ ashes, unaware the place is rumored to be haunted by a witch. Here’s the synopsis: When reclusive novelist Ohm Bauman (Scott) retreats to a remote Irish inn to scatter his parents’ ashes, the staff’s tales of an ancient witch haunting the honeymoon suite take hold of his mind. Soon, disturbing visions and a shocking disappearance draw him into a nightmarish confrontation with the darkest corners of his past. Scott is joined in the cast by Peter Coonan (Bad Sisters) and David Wilmot (Bodkin).

DEEP WATER – Theatrical, May 1

Gene Simmons of the rock band Kiss has launched a new production company with Gary Hamilton (so the company is appropriately called Simmons/Hamilton Productions), and the first project they gave the greenlight to was a shark thriller called Deep Water – with Deep Blue Sea director Renny Harlin at the helm! Scripted by Pete Bridges and Shayne Armstrong & SP Krause, Deep Water centers on an eclectic group of international passengers whose plane, en route from Los Angeles to Shanghai, is forced to make an emergency landing in shark-infested waters. The terrified group is forced to work together and overcome their differences if they hope to escape their sinking plane and the frenzy of sharks drawn to the wreckage. The film stars Aaron Eckhart of Harlin’s The Bricklayer, Sir Ben Kingsley (Gandhi), Molly Wright (Netflix’s True Spirit), Angus Sampson (Mad Max: Fury Road), Kelly Gale (Plane), singer and actor Li Wenhan, who is a member of the Chinese-Korean K-Pop group UNIQ, and Nashi (Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms).

OBSESSION – Theatrical, May 15

In 2024, Curry Barker wrote, directed, and starred in the found footage horror movie Milk & Serial, which is said to have had a budget of $800. Baker then released the movie through YouTube, where the free-to-watch video has racked up more than 2 million views. Even though he already sent Milk & Serial out into the world, it’s his new horror movie, Obsession, that’s being billed as his feature directorial debut. Starring Michael Johnston (Teen Wolf) and Inde Navarrette (Superman & Lois), Obsession is a story about a hopeless romantic who makes a wish that his long-time crush falls in love with him. A sinister enchantment ensues. Here’s the official synopsis: After breaking the mysterious “One Wish Willow” to win his crush’s heart, a hopeless romantic finds himself getting exactly what he asked for but soon discovers that some desires come at a dark, sinister price. Cooper Tomlinson (Milk & Serial), Megan Lawless (Killer Rental), and Andy Richter (Conan) are also in the cast.

SCARY MOVIE 6 – Theatrical, June 12

After a thirteen year break, the Scary Movie horror parody franchise is back – and it’s being revived with the help of the people who got it started in the first place: the Wayans Brothers! The Wayans Brothers have written the screenplay with Rick Alvarez, with director Michael Tiddes bringing the wackiness to the screen. Franchise stars Anna Faris and Regina Hall returning after sitting out Scary Movie 5 and are joined in the cast by Damon Wayans Jr. (Let’s Be Cops), Kim Wayans (Dance Flick), Heidi Gardner (Hustle), Cheri Oteri (Liar Liar), Chris Elliott (Cabin Boy), Lochlyn Monroe (Freddy vs. Jason), Dave Sheridan (The Devil’s Rejects), Jon Abrahams (House of Wax), Olivia Rose Keegan (Minx), Savannah Lee Nassif (Dance Rivals), Cameron Scott Roberts (Departing Seniors), Sydney Park (There’s Someone Inside Your House), Gregg Wayans (Fifty Shades of Black), Ruby Snowber (Yellowstone), newcomer Benny Zielke, Shawn Wayans (White Chicks), and Marlon Wayans (Him). It has been hinted that I Know What You Did Last Summer, the Scream franchise, Heretic, Longlegs, Get Out, Nope, and Sinners may be among the movies that get spoofed this time around.

EVIL DEAD BURN – Theatrical, July 24

In the build-up to the release of Evil Dead Rise in 2023, Evil Dead franchise rights holders Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell, and Rob Tapert let it be known that they were already looking forward to producing more entries in the series, with Campbell revealing they were hoping to make a new sequel / spin-off every two or three years. They have proved their commitment to this idea by hiring Sébastien Vaniček, who made his feature directorial debut on the French horror film Vermin, a.k.a. Infested, to write and direct a new installment in the franchise. They gave the director complete creative control on the movie, which he says has “a French twist.” Francis Galluppi, who just made his feature directorial debut with the crime thriller The Last Stop in Yuma County, has already been hired to make the next Evil Dead movie after this one.

FLOWERVALE STREET – Theatrical, August 14

Pretty much everything about Flowervale Street is being kept under wraps. Last year, film journalist Jeff Sneider reported the rumor that Flowervale Street happens to be “a dinosaur movie set in the ’80s,” and The Hollywood Reporter’s sources have said it’s “a family adventure set in the 1980s that involves dinosaurs.” We know for sure that it has been directed by It Follows‘ David Robert Mitchell for Warner Bros. Pictures, Jackson Pictures, and J.J. Abrams’ company Bad Robot. The cast includes Anne Hathaway (The Devil Wears Prada), Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Maisy Stella (Nashville), and Christian Convery (Sweet Tooth). The movie was previously scheduled to reach theatres on May 16, 2025, then March 13, 2026. We’ll see if it sticks with August 14.

CLAYFACE – Theatrical, September 11

Back in 2021, filmmaker Mike Flanagan let it be known on social media that he was interested in making a “standalone horror/thriller/tragedy” movie that would center on the DC Comics Clayface character. When James Gunn and Peter Safran took over DC Studios and launched the DC Universe, he got his chance. Flanagan wrote the screenplay for Clayface, which has been brought to the screen by Speak No Evil director James Watkins. Deadline reminds us, “Clayface is shape-shifting villain in the Batman comics and got his introduction as part of Detective Comics #40. The original Clayface was a moderately successful actor who adopted the identity of a character he’d portrayed in a horror pic after turning to crime. Clayface has a body seemingly made out of clay and has appeared over the years in various films, series, animated works, video games and other forms of media.”Tom Rhys Harries (Kandahar) plays the title character and is joined in the cast by Naomi Ackie (I Want to Dance With Somebody)  and Max Minghella (Spiral: From the Book of Saw).

RESIDENT EVIL – Theatrical, September 18

Zach Cregger, writer/director of Barbarian and the recently released film Weapons, is directing the new Resident Evil movie for Sony and also wrote the screenplay with Shay Hatten (Army of the Dead) and the story apparently harkens back to the original Capcom game’s horror roots. Here’s the supposed logline: Bryan, a laid-back organ courier, is sent on a late-night delivery to Raccoon City General Hospital. En route through a snowy mountain road, he accidentally hits a strange woman with his car. She survives—but something is very wrong. As he tries to help, Bryan stumbles into a full-blown outbreak involving horrifying tentacle-based mutations and bio-engineered monstrosities. Weapons cast member Austin Abrams has the lead role and is joined in the cast by Paul Walter Hauser (Cobra Kai), Zach Cherry (Severance), Kali Reis (True Detective: Night Country), and Johnno Wilson (I Love That for You). Cherry is said to be playing a scientist at a hospital and Reis plays an ex-military character that was initially written for a male actor. Cregger took the approach of telling an original story with original characters that’s set within the world of the Resident Evil video game franchise because he feels that the stories of the video game characters are already being perfectly told in the games.

OTHER MOMMY – Theatrical, October 9

Rob Savage moves on from a Stephen King adaptation to a Josh Malerman adaptation, as The Boogeyman director is at the helm of this film adaptation of Bird Box author Malerman’s novel Incidents Around the House, which is coming our way from Blumhouse and Atomic Monster. Jessica Chastain (It Chapter Two), Jay Duplass (Transparent), Dichen Lachman (Severance), Karen Allen (Raiders of the Lost Ark), and Arabella Olivia Clark (Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere) star in Other Mommy, which centers on 8-year-old Bela (Clark), who lives in a home strained by her parents’ troubled marriage, only to see her life further upended by a sinister entity she calls “Other Mommy.” When this malevolent presence emerges from her closet, persistently asking “Can I go inside your heart?”, Bela refuses. But soon, Other Mommy’s manifestations become increasingly aggressive, threatening the safety of Bela’s family.

REMAIN – Theatrical, October 23

The Sixth Sense director M. Night Shyamalan and The Notebook author Nicholas Sparks have teamed up for the supernatural romantic thriller Remain. They created the original story together, with Shyamalan going off to write a screenplay based on the story while Sparks turned the idea into a novel. As was said at the time, “Both will be based on the same concept and set of characters but designed for their individual mediums.” The Sparks novel is already on store shelves and is available for purchase at THIS LINK, sporting the following description: A one-of-a-kind novel that grapples with the supernatural mysteries of life, death, and human connection—an unprecedented collaboration between the globally bestselling author of love stories like The Notebook and the renowned writer and director of blockbuster thrillers like The Sixth Sense. When New York architect Tate Donovan arrives in Cape Cod to design his best friend’s summer home, he is hoping to make a fresh start. Recently discharged from an upscale psychiatric facility where he was treated for acute depression, he is still wrestling with the pain of losing his beloved sister. Sylvia’s deathbed revelation—that she can see spirits who are still tethered to the living world, a gift that runs in their family—sits uneasily with Tate, who struggles to believe in more than what reason can explain. But when he takes up residence at a historic bed-and-breakfast on the Cape, he encounters a beautiful young woman named Wren who will challenge every assumption he has about his logical and controlled world. Tate and Wren find themselves forging an immediate connection, one that neither has ever experienced before. But Tate gradually discovers that below the surface of Wren’s idyllic small-town life, hatred, jealousy, and greed are festering, threatening their fragile relationship just as it begins to blossom. Tate realizes that in order to free Wren from an increasingly desperate fate, he will need to unearth the truth about her past before time runs out . . . a quest that will make him doubt whether we can ever believe the stories we tell about ourselves, and the laws that govern our existence. Love—while transformative—can sometimes be frightening. A story about the power of transcendent emotion, Remain asks us all: Can love set us free not only from our greatest sorrows, but even from the boundaries of life and death? Shyamalan’s film stars Jake Gyllenhaal (Donnie Darko), Phoebe Dynevor (Bridgerton), Julie Hagerty (Airplane), Jay O. Sanders (When You Finishing Saving the World) Tracy Ifeachor (The Pitt), Hannah James (Mercy Street), Caleb Ruminer (The Irrational), Kieran Mulcare (Jessica Jones), Maria Dizzia (My Old Ass), and Ashley Walters (Adolescence).

THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD – Theatrical, November

Forty years ago, writer/director Dan O’Bannon delivered one of the most highly entertaining zombie movies of all time with The Return of the Living Dead – and now, we’re getting a reboot from Muck and Kill Her Goats director Steve Wolsh. Information found on the Living Dead Media website reveals: Our reboot of Return of the Living Dead will expand the existing world created by the original 5 films, while staying true to the R-rated, sci-fi, horror, dark comedy roots adored by fans of the cult classic around the world for the last 35 years. ​We are excited to resurrect this storied franchise for current fans and new generations of zombie fans. Here’s the set up: Taking place 18 months after the events at the UNEEDA Warehouse in Louisville, KY, a new Trioxin 2-4-5 leak puts a small Pennsylvania town on the brink of a zombie outbreak during Christmas, 1985. If surviving a zombie outbreak isn’t hard enough, the characters and the Army will have to also contend with blizzard conditions. This Christmas, it’s Tarman who will be coming to town. Devon Sawa (Final Destination) plays a character named Isaac Horton in the film, with Casimere “Cash” Jollette (Tiny Pretty Things) as Delilah Horton and Kynlee Heiman (The Best Christmas Pageant Ever) as Sophia Horton. Alexander Ward, who has played “demons, monsters and villains” in the likes of Teen Wolf, Ghosted, Annabelle Comes Home, Westworld and American Horror Story, is this project’s version of Tarman.

EBENEZER: A CHRISTMAS CAROL – Theatrical, November 13

Sure, this movie is likely to be a heartwarming viewing experience fit for the whole family, but the Charles Dickens source material will also give director Ti West, whose filmography has primarily consisted of horror movies up to this point, the opportunity to tell “a thrilling ghost story.” Deadline reminds us, the classic Charles Dickens story has seen its fair share of retellings over the years with its tale of an elderly miser visited by the ghost of his former business partner and the spirits of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Yet to Come. For his first major studio movie, West will be telling a thrilling ghost story set in Dickens’ London, following one man’s supernatural journey to face his past, present and future and fight for a second chance. Johnny Depp (Edward Scissorhands) plays Ebenezer Scrooge and is joined in the cast by Andrea Riseborough (Mandy), Ian McKellen of the X-Men and Lord of the Rings franchises, Tramell Tillman (Severance), Daisy Ridley (the Star Wars franchise), Rupert Grint (the Harry Potter franchise), Sam Claflin (Daisy Jones & The Six), Charlie Murphy (Halo), Arthur Conti (Beetlejuice Beetlejuice), and Ellie Bamber (Willow).

WERWULF – Theatrical, December 25

The Witch, The Lighthouse, The Northman, and Nosferatu writer/director Robert Eggers has dealt with some dark subject matter over the course of his career – but the darkest story is yet to come. Eggers has written the screenplay for Werwulf with Sjón, his co-writer on the Viking saga The Northman. Details are being kept under wraps, but The Hollywood Reporter’s sources told them “the story is set in 13th century England. The script also features dialogue that was true to the time period and has translations and annotations for those uninitiated to Old English. Initially, Eggers was planning on shooting the feature in black and white, but that is no longer the case. Suffice to say that considering the setting and the dialect, Eggers is promising another deep dive into a muddy, costumed, and violent time period consistent with his oeuvre which has earned him a loyal film following.“ Screen Daily adds that the story centers on a mysterious creature who stalks a foggy countryside as local folklore becomes a terrifying reality for the villagers. During a recent Q&A event, Eggers told the audience that his “medieval werewolf movie” is, “the darkest thing I’ve ever written, by far.” The film is also a Nosferatu reunion for Eggers and stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Lily-Rose Depp, and Willem Dafoe.

THE BACKROOMS – Release TBD

Some of today’s biggest genre companies – A24, James Wan‘s Atomic Monster, the Stranger Things makers at 21 Laps, and Planet of the Apes producers Chernin Entertainment – are joining forces for The Backrooms, which marks the feature directorial debut of teenage director and VFX artist Kane Parsons. The film is based on a series of viral videos Parsons released through his YouTube channel Kane Pixels. If you were to splice those videos together they would reach feature length, but the feature version of The Backrooms is going to be something entirely new. The screenplay for the feature has been written by Roberto Patino (DMZ). Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave) and Renate Reinsve (The Worst Person in the World) star alongside Mark Duplass (Creep), Finn Bennett (True Detective), Lukita Maxwell (Shrinking), and Avan Jogia (Zombieland: Double Tap) 

FORBIDDEN FRUITS – Release TBD

Oscar-winning Juno writer Diablo Cody, who has also written the genre films Jennifer’s Body and Lisa Frankenstein, is producing Forbidden Fruits, which marks the feature directorial debut of Meredith Alloway and is an adaptation of the Lily Houghton stage play Of the Women Came the Beginning of Sin, and Through Her We All Die. Lili Reinhart (Hustlers), Lola Tung (The Summer I Turned Pretty), Victoria Pedretti (You), Alexandra Shipp (Barbie) and newcomer Emma Chamberlain star in the film, which has the following synopsis: Free Eden employee Apple secretly runs a witchy femme cult in the basement of the mall store after hours – with fellow fruits Cherry and Fig. But when new hire Pumpkin challenges their performative sisterhood, the women are forced to face their own poisons or succumb to a bloody fate.

ICE CREAM MAN – Release TDB

Director Eli Roth had been planning to make a sequel to his slasher movie Thanksgiving in 2025, but when he wasn’t able to get that one into production, he just pivoted over to another horror movie,Ice Cream Man. The film follows an idyllic summer town descending into madness when an ice cream man serves kids sweet delights with horrifying results. Plot details are being kept under wraps. Roth directed the film from a screenplay he wrote with Noah Belson, based on “an original idea he has had for over twenty years, but studios were too nervous to finance.” Roth’s company The Horror Section fully financed the film with Media Capital Technologies.

SOULM8TE – Release TBD

Universal had been given this film, a Blumhouse/Atomic Monster production that’s set in the universe of the M3GAN films, a theatrical release on January 2 – but a month before that date, they dropped it from their release schedule and the producers started shopping it around to other distributors. It’s not clear why Universal lost faith in SOULM8TE, although the box office disappointment of M3GAN 2.0 might be to blame. Described as “Fatal Attraction with robots,” the movie will show us what happens when a man acquires an Artificially Intelligent android to cope with the loss of his recently deceased wife. In an attempt to create a truly sentient partner, he inadvertently turns a harmless lovebot into a deadly soulmate. This “1990s erotic thriller with a new technological twist” stars Evil Dead Rise actress Lily Sullivan, Claudia Doumit (The Boys), and David Rysdahl (Booger.) Rysdahl is playing the man, while Sullivan plays the android. Details on the role Doumit will be playing have not been revealed. JoBlo’s own Chris Bumbray saw an early preview of the film at CinemaCon last April and reported, “Seems similar to Companion. Centers on a sexbot that becomes so obsessed with her “owner” that she kills anyone close to him and goes on a murder spree. Looks more violent (and kinkier) than M3GAN but has the same humor. When a woman she’s about to kill says ‘Women aren’t supposed to be pitted against each other,’ she answers, ‘Don’t start that girl power shit with me.’“

TRASH’S REVENGE – Release TBD

Trash was the character played by scream queen Linnea Quigley in The Return of the Living Dead – and yes, Quigley is also back for Trash’s Revenge. Her Return co-stars Beverly Randolph, Thom Mathews, Miguel A. Núñez Jr., John Philbin, and Drew Deighan are also in the cast. Plus, the late James Karen and Don Calfa are going to be resurrected through the use of CGI! Eric Roberts and Michelle Bauer are in the cast as well, along with Andrew Pierson, playing a Elon Musk type character named Nathan Virel; news anchorman Danny Langston; and zombies Kevin Plantz, Dave Knee, and Sean Wolfe. Quigley is producing Trash’s Revenge, with Randolph serving as an associate producer and Night of the Living Dead co-creator John A. Russo co-producing. Richard Driscoll is the writer/director. Here’s what it’s all about: As the saga continues decades after the horrific events of the 1985 cult classic, Trash the notorious punk rocker, played by Linnea Quigley, finds herself trapped in a past where fame has faded. Once a rebellious icon, Trash now embraces the persona of a grotesque Norma Desmond from Sunset Boulevard, attending conventions to sign autographs while her co-stars rise to greater heights. For Linnea, her legacy as a star of Return of the Living Dead becomes both a curse and a twisted ticket to notoriety in an industry obsessed with horror and scandal. But when a young filmmaker approaches her to make a documentary with staged re-enactments from the original film to celebrate the film’s 40th Anniversary, Linnea sees an opportunity to reclaim her place in the spotlight no matter the cost. As the documentary delves into her past, a shocking truth emerges: Return of the Living Dead wasn’t just fiction, part of it was real. Linnea confesses that she still possesses three original cannisters from the film, hidden away in her basement. Cannisters that were never revealed to the public… until now. Here’s a shorter description: A punk rocker rises from the dead, hungry for fame and flesh. She heads to Hollywood, manipulating a filmmaker to document her gruesome “comeback.” Her notoriety and body count grows, leading to a bloody showdown that will decide her fate.

THE YOUNG PEOPLE – Release TBD

Lola Tung (The Summer I Turned Pretty) and Nico Parker (How to Train Your Dragon) star in The Young People, the latest horror film from Longlegs and Keeper director Osgood Perkins. Also in the cast are Tatiana Maslany (The Monkey), Heather Graham (Suitable Flesh), Johnny Knoxville (Jackass), Lexi Minetree (The Paramedic Who Stalked Me), Lily Collias (Good One), Brendan Hines (Lie to Me), Cush Jumbo (The Good Wife), and Best Actress Oscar winner (for The Hours) Nicole Kidman. Details on the role Kidman will be playing have not been revealed. In fact, we don’t know who anyone’s playing. This project is being kept tightly under wraps. Perkins is directing The Young People from his own script. When filming began, an image of the script was shared online, and a glimpse of the top line of page 76 indicates that Perkins is entering Lovecraftian territory with this film, because there’s a reference to “The Old Ones.”

The post 2026 Horror Preview: Will It Live Up to 2025? appeared first on JoBlo.

Horror franchises aren’t inherently bad. They can give you something almost yearly to look forward to, like when Saw was popping them out every October, or they can give you something to hold onto nostalgia-wise from your childhood, like the Friday the 13th movies. For studios, they’re cash cows that executives don’t want to let go of, always hoping one of them will pop off and hit that golden $100 million mark at the box office.

They’re also cheap to produce and come with a built-in fanbase that guarantees press, both negative and positive, and viewership fueled by genuine love, curiosity, or even hate-watching.

Some franchises ran their course and still left an indelible mark on the horror lexicon, even if they fell off toward the end. Romero’s Dead films or A Nightmare on Elm Street, whose regrettable remake seemingly put the nail in the coffin, are good examples.

Others, though…. some of these franchises just refuse to die, much like their stalker killers on screen. Unfortunately, the time has come to let them go. Like it or not, these franchises need to die. In many cases, they needed to die several movies ago. That doesn’t mean the movies that already exist should be forgotten. Far from it. Every film in these series either has enjoyable moments or stands as a solid argument for why some things are better left alone.

Let’s start with the most recent offender.

Predator: Let the Hunt End

Predator: Badlands was released in early November 2025, and while it slowly crept toward profitability, grossing $184 million on a $105 million budget, it also kind of lost the plot. Literally, yes, it still follows Predators, but it’s about as far from the original film as you can get.

The first Predator remains one of the greatest sci-fi action movies of all time. A macho group of military operators becomes the ultimate hunt for the galaxy’s ultimate predator. The story unfolds almost entirely in real time, with the characters piecing together what’s happening. Crucially, very little is explained, and that’s what made it work. The creature’s technology, language, motives, and culture were mostly left in the dark, and that was okay. There was no sequel baiting. It stood on its own and still does.

Sequels, of course, aren’t inherently bad. Predator 2 is divisive, but it’s a fun and logical progression. One action star is swapped for another. Danny Glover may not be Arnold Schwarzenegger, but he’s great. The jungle becomes the urban jungle, the action is still strong, and we get just enough expansion of the lore. The government knows about the Predator and wants to trap it. We see the ship, the trophies, and that iconic xenomorph skull tease. Another perfect stopping point.

And for a while, it actually stopped.

Aside from the Alien vs. Predator films, which honestly do a better job showing the Yautja culture than some later entries, there was no Predator until 2010’s Predators. This movie starts with a solid idea and slowly turns into a remake of the original. Adrian Brody bulks up and follows Arnold’s footsteps almost beat for beat. We get a hunting planet, Earth’s deadliest warriors, and expanded lore like Predator classes and hunting animals. It’s fun, but unnecessary.

Then came 2018’s The Predator. This is where the franchise falls into the trap nearly all of these series do: trying to recreate what made them successful. Shane Black returned to write and direct with Fred Dekker, turning the movie into a comedy with a deeply questionable take on autism and some unfortunate casting decisions. It still made money, which meant we weren’t done.

The Dan Trachtenberg era has been both a blessing and a curse. Prey stripped things back and became one of the best movies of the early 2020s. Killer of Killers delivered almost everything fans had been asking for in a standalone animated anthology. But the most recent entry is the clearest sign the franchise has overstayed its welcome. No humans to hunt, a Disneyfied tone, sidekicks, and an identity crisis that makes it feel more like a generic sci-fi universe movie than a Predator film. Of course, it’s setting up a sequel.

Great sci-fi. Bad Predator. Let the hunt end.

Scream: Meta Doesn’t Mean Infinite

Scream is another franchise I just don’t get anymore. Call it an old man shaking his fist at the sky, but hear me out.

The original Scream was revolutionary. It arrived during a weird time for horror, brought Wes Craven back into the spotlight, and perfected meta-horror. The opening kill with Drew Barrymore was shocking, gory, and instantly told audiences that no one was safe. It saved slashers. It was a massive success ($173 million on a $15 million budget) and critically respected, even by critics like Roger Ebert. It gave us Ghostface, a new horror icon powered by the costume and Roger L. Jackson’s voice.

Naturally, sequels followed. The original trilogy came out over four years, and honestly, that should’ve been it. Even with Scream 3 being a dud and featuring one of the worst haircuts this side of Halloween H20, it ended beautifully. Sidney Prescott, traumatized beyond belief, leaves her door open. Closure. Unfortunately, that open door also left a financial one open. Eleven years later, Scream 4 arrived.

Scream 4 is fun, and it works as a swan song for Craven, but it highlights the franchise’s biggest problem: it cannot let go of its main characters. Everyone comes back. Same town. Same trauma. Even Sidney’s cousin is a killer, purely out of jealousy. It’s a very small universe for a globally famous murder spree.

Then came Scream (2022), right in the middle of the legacy sequel boom. New characters played by Jack Quaid, Jenna Ortega, and Melissa Barrera were genuinely compelling. But they couldn’t exist independently. The heroine is revealed to be the daughter of one of the original killers. Again, everything loops back. Even killing off Dewey wasn’t enough. The sequel that followed repeats Scream 2’s revenge plot, and now, with behind-the-scenes chaos, we’re going all the way back. Neve Campbell returns. Courteney Cox returns. Kevin Williamson returns. The cycle continues.

We need slashers. We don’t need a 30-year-old franchise stuck in narrative quicksand.

Halloween: A Franchise With No Identity

The Halloween franchise has more entries than Predator or Scream, and that’s exactly the problem. It has no identity. It’s been called the “Choose Your Own Adventure” horror franchise, and that’s accurate. Look at the timelines:

• 1, 2, 4, 5, 6
• 1, 2, H20, Resurrection
• 1, 2018, Kills, Ends
• The Rob Zombie duology

So what is Michael Myers? Human? Superhuman? A cult symbol? The embodiment of evil? Depends on the movie.

John Carpenter never wanted a sequel. When one happened, it introduced the sibling twist, which is something even Carpenter later regretted. The boldest idea the franchise ever had was Halloween III: turning the series into an anthology centered on the holiday itself. Fans rejected it. Everything went downhill from there.

Nearly 50 years later, the franchise has become a buffet. Pick what you like. Ignore the rest. That’s not cohesion, that’s exhaustion.

Michael Myers can never truly die due to rights issues, meaning the cycle will always restart. But there’s nothing left to say. Evil should’ve died in 2022. Not just “tonight.”

The Exorcist: Prestige Can’t Save a Dead Franchise

Which brings us to The Exorcist. It’s older than Halloween, carries more prestige, and has fewer entries, but somehow refuses to stay buried. The original remains one of the scariest films ever made, and it also pulled in 10 Oscar nominations and nearly $450 million in box office gross.

Exorcist II is famously terrible. Exorcist III, however, is quietly one of the greatest horror sequels ever made. Written and directed by William Peter Blatty, it delivers a powerful exploration of faith and one of the greatest jump scares of all time. That’s where it should have ended.

Then came the early-2000s remake/prequel nonsense. Two versions of the same movie. Neither good. Neither necessary.

Then David Gordon Green happened. The success of Halloween (2018) somehow spawned an attempt at making an Exorcist trilogy, and it failed for all the same reasons: legacy characters, identity loss, and confusion over what kind of movie it wanted to be.

Now Mike Flanagan is attached to the franchise. I love Mike Flanagan. That’s the problem. If you need to bring in someone of his caliber, just let him do something original. Midnight Mass, Oculus, The Life of Chuck, that’s where he shines. When your franchise requires a creative nuclear weapon to stay relevant, it’s time to let it go.

Do you agree that these franchises need to die? Or do you think there’s still life left in them? What other horror series should finally go away? Let us know in the comments.

The post From Predator to Scream: Franchises That Have Overstayed Their Welcome appeared first on JoBlo.

Loomis bloodline

Skeet Ulrich played Billy Loomis in the original Scream, a character who was revealed to be one of the Ghostface killers. Billy didn’t survive that film – but the character Melissa Barrera played in the last two movies was his daughter, Sam. She kept seeing hallucinations of him, allowing Ulrich to reprise his role decades later. The hallucinations would have continued in Scream 7 if Barrera returned… and it sounds like they were going to push her over the edge.

Ulrich told Entertainment Weekly, “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.“

Ulrich has previously confirmed that he is not in Scream 7 and doesn’t know what the new story is, but “I used to know what the seventh was going to be and it was really, really interesting. Now I have no clue.“

Sam as the killer

Although Barrera was once quoted as saying, “It would be my dream for Sam to be Ghostface,” actually going through with making the heroine of the last two movies the killer in the trilogy capper seems like it would have been a bad move. Maybe it’s better that things ended for her character where they did, with her seemingly rejecting her father’s legacy in the final moments of Scream VI and dropping his Ghostface mask on the street.

Scream 7 cast

Neve Campbell is joined in the cast by Isabel May of the Yellowstone prequel 1883, who plays Sidney’s daughter Tatum; Mckenna Grace of the Ghostbusters franchise, Grace’s Ghostbusters co-star Celeste O’Connor, Gen V‘s Asa Germann, The Fabelmans‘ Sam Rechner, Pitch Perfect‘s Anna Camp, Riverdale‘s Mark Consuelos, fellow franchise star Courteney Cox, who reprises the role of reporter / author Gale Weathers, Joel McHale (Community) as Sidney’s husband Mark Evans, and Ethan Embray (The Devil’s Candy). Although two of the “core four” characters established in the previous two movies are no longer around, Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown are back as Chad Meeks-Martin and Mindy Meeks-Martin.

Also in the cast are Matthew Lillard and Scott Foley, who played Ghostface killers in the original Scream and Scream 3, respectively, and did not appear to make it out of those movies alive. David Arquette is back as the dearly departed Dewey, who exited the world of the living in the fifth movie.

Scream 7 is set to reach theatres on February 27, 2026. Are you looking forward to the movie – and would you rather see a version that featured Sam as the killer? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.

The post Was Sam going to be the killer in the original version of Scream 7? appeared first on JoBlo.

Billy Loomis

Skeet Ulrich played Billy Loomis in the original Scream, a character who was revealed to be one of the Ghostface killers. Billy didn’t survive that film – but the character Melissa Barrera played in the last two movies was his daughter, and she kept seeing hallucinations of him, allowing Ulrich to reprise his role decades later. The hallucinations would have continued in Scream 7 if Barrera returned… but it wasn’t to be.

Speaking with the New York Post, Ulrich said, “I’m not involved. I’m really excited though. I’m excited for Kevin Williamson to take the helm and to see what the mastermind of it all comes up with. I used to know [what the movie was about], because part of coming back for five and six was being a part of seven. It was a three-picture arc for Billy Loomis, or the imagination of Billy Loomis in Melissa Barrera’s character’s head. But when all that went down with her, obviously you lose her and you lose what’s in her head. I used to know what the seventh was going to be and it was really, really interesting. Now I have no clue.“

Scream 7 cast

Neve Campbell is joined in the cast by Isabel May of the Yellowstone prequel 1883, who plays Sidney’s daughter Tatum; Mckenna Grace of the Ghostbusters franchise, Grace’s Ghostbusters co-star Celeste O’Connor, Gen V‘s Asa Germann, The Fabelmans‘ Sam Rechner, Pitch Perfect‘s Anna Camp, Riverdale‘s Mark Consuelos, fellow franchise star Courteney Cox, who reprises the role of reporter / author Gale Weathers, Joel McHale (Community) as Sidney’s husband Mark Evans, and Ethan Embray (The Devil’s Candy). Although two of the “core four” characters established in the previous two movies are no longer around, Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown are back as Chad Meeks-Martin and Mindy Meeks-Martin.

Also in the cast are Matthew Lillard and Scott Foley, who played Ghostface killers in the original Scream and Scream 3, respectively, and did not appear to make it out of those movies alive. David Arquette is back as the dearly departed Dewey, who exited the world of the living in the fifth movie.

Although Ulrich and Lillard were both killers in the original Scream (and both appear in the newly released Five Nights at Freddy’s 2), Ulrich has not been told what his fellow Ghostface is doing in Scream 7. “I don’t know how [Matthew Lillard’s] back. I have no idea, which I’m kind of excited for, to see it and not know.“

Scream 7 is set to reach theatres on February 27, 2026. Are you looking forward to the film, and are you disappointed to hear that Skeet Ulrich won’t appear in it? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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A few weeks ago, on Halloween Eve, Paramount Pictures unveiled a trailer for the slasher sequel Scream 7, which is set to reach theatres on February 27, 2026. The film brings Neve Campbell back into the lead as franchise heroine Sidney Prescott – and the trailer confirmed the rumors that Sidney has a teenage daughter named Tatum, in honor of her friend who was killed in the original Scream back in 1996. The original Tatum was played by Rose McGowan, who says that it made her heart happy to hear that her character’s name lives on in the new film.

Spyglass Media and Paramount once intended to make a Scream 7 that would have starred Scream (2022) and Scream VI leads Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega, with Freaky and Happy Death Day director Christopher Landon at the helm. But then Ortega allegedly asked for a substantial pay raise – and as we saw when Neve Campbell dropped out of Scream VI due to a pay dispute, these pay issues don’t tend to work out. Then Barrera was fired from the project after comments she made about the Israel-Hamas war didn’t go over well with executives at Spyglass. Landon dropped out the of the project soon after. So Scream 7 has been re-developed, Campbell has signed on to return as franchise heroine Sidney Prescott, back in the lead role, while Kevin Williamson, who wrote the screenplay for the original Scream, directs the film from a screenplay by 2022’s Scream and Scream VI writer Guy Busick, who crafted the story with his co-writer on the fifth and sixth films, James Vanderbilt. (Vanderbilt is also a producer on the most recent sequels.)  

Campbell is joined in the cast by Isabel May of the Yellowstone prequel 1883, who plays Sidney’s daughter Tatum; Mckenna Grace of the Ghostbusters franchise, Grace’s Ghostbusters co-star Celeste O’Connor, Gen V‘s Asa Germann, The Fabelmans‘ Sam Rechner, Pitch Perfect‘s Anna Camp, Riverdale‘s Mark Consuelos, fellow franchise star Courteney Cox, who reprises the role of reporter / author Gale Weathers, Joel McHale (Community) as Sidney’s husband Mark Evans, and Ethan Embray (The Devil’s Candy). Although two of the “core four” characters established in the previous two movies are no longer around, Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown are back as Chad Meeks-Martin and Mindy Meeks-Martin.

Also in the cast are Matthew Lillard and Scott Foley, who played Ghostface killers in the original Scream and Scream 3, respectively, and did not appear to make it out of those movies alive. David Arquette is back as the dearly departed Dewey, who exited the world of the living in the fifth movie.

Here’s the film’s official synopsis: When a new Ghostface killer emerges in the quiet town where Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) has built a new life, her darkest fears are realized as her daughter (Isabel May) becomes the next target. Determined to protect her family, Sidney must face the horrors of her past to put an end to the bloodshed once and for all.

During an interview on the Scream Obsessed podcast, McGowan was asked how she felt about a Scream 7 character being named in her Scream character’s honor. She replied, “I think Scream is one of the greatest fandoms in the world. I know, I’m biased, but I believe this is true. I love how excited the fact that Sidney naming her baby Tatum– it’s made my heart happy and I know it’s made many others happy. It feels right and good. Tatum lives!“

Were you happy to hear that Sidney named her daughter in Tatum’s honor? Share your thoughts on Scream 7 by leaving a comment below.

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Cody

There’s a new Scream sequel heading our way, with Scream 7 scheduled to reach theatres on February 27, 2026. A full trailer for the film dropped online earlier this week (you can watch it HERE), and it’s looking very promising so far. Original Scream (plus Scream 2 and some of Scream 4) writer Kevin Williamson is at the helm this time around, working from a screenplay by 2022’s Scream and Scream VI writer Guy Busick, who crafted the story with his co-writer on the fifth and sixth films, James Vanderbilt. Franchise heroine Neve Campbell is back in the lead as Sidney Prescott, and her fellow franchise regular Courteney Cox (who, unlike Campbell, has not missed out on a single one of the films) is reprising the role of Gale Weathers. It looks like there’s plenty of reason to be excited for this one… but there’s also reason to be cautious. The reason: the fact that so many fans were burned by the recent I Know What You Did Last Summer legacy sequel. (JoBlo’s own Tyler Nichols gave it a 4/10 “dumpster fire” review that can be read at THIS LINK.) Scream 7 needs to tread carefully not to repeat the mistakes that were made by the new I Know What You Did Last Summer.

Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (Do Revenge) directed I Know What You Did Last Summer from a screenplay by Leah McKendrick (M.F.A.), which received rewrites from Robinson and journalist Sam Lansky. The project got off to its own promising start when Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. were brought back to play Julie James and Ray Bronson after an almost thirty year gap – but things did not turn out very well. The finished film has bad dialogue, annoying characters, and cringe-inducing humor, all of which are good things for any film to avoid. But another thing this movie has, something Scream 7 really needs to avoid, is a twist that felt like a slap in the face to fans of returning characters.

SPOILERS follow:

For many viewers, the new I Know What You Did Last Summer‘s biggest misstep was the fact that the filmmakers somehow thought it would make sense for the Ray Bronson character, who fought valiantly against hook-wielding killers in both the original I Know What You Did Last Summer and its first sequel, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, to become a hook-wielding killer himself.

Now, Scream fans are worried that this franchise might follow suit. (After all, the I Know What You Did Last Summer franchise started with a Williamson script, too.) Judging by the trailer, it looks like we’re safe from a “Sidney is now a killer” twist – but there’s not a lot of Gale Weathers in there, and we can only hope she’s not the one wearing the Ghostface mask this time. Turning a character we’ve followed through six movies and multiple Ghostface encounters into the new Ghostface would be even worse than making Ray Bronson a killer after two movies. A twist like that would be a deal-breaker for a lot of Scream fans.

The lesson here is, don’t mess with established characters. Don’t twist heroes around and turn them into villains. Gale Weathers has always been a flawed character, but a Ghostface maniac she is not. I’ll admit, I’m getting tired of the “look who’s under the mask this time” endings of Scream movies in general, but let’s not shake things up by making the wrong person a killer.

What did you think of the I Know What You Did Last Summer killer twist, and what would you think if a Scream sequel turned Sidney or Gale into the latest Ghostface? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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Entertainment Tonight caught up with Neve Campbell, where she explained that this time around, Sidney is in the best place imaginable. “Sidney’s happy. She’s a mom, she has a family. She feels safe and really tried to put her past behind her. We start with her in a very good place.” This is seen in the trailer, where she appears to be running a coffee shop.

But things turn dark fast, as Sidney will be encountering Ghostface once again as she races to protect her daughter, Tatum (Isabel May), who might want to avoid garage doors for the duration of the movie…And if we had to guess, husband Mark (Joel McHale) – who is absolutely not the Mark from Scream 3 – won’t be making it out alive.

Scream 7 marks the much welcome return of Sidney Prescott, as Neve Campbell sat out Scream VI due to the studio’s refusal to pay her what she deserved. Thankfully, they saw their errors and decided to cut her a proper check. On the move, she previously said, “I’m really grateful that the studio heard me when I talked about pay discrepancy and when I talked about [Scream VI negotiations] not feeling respectful…When they first approached me [for Scream 7], I thought, ‘I don’t know what respectful looks like to them. We might be in very different places.’ But they started out in a strong place, so that was lovely.”

The February 27th, 2026 release of Scream VI will coincide with the 30th anniversary of the first Scream, written by Kevin Williamson, who has signed on as director for the first time in the series.

Will you be checking out Scream 7 in theaters?

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We’re just hours away from Halloween and the folks at Paramount Pictures are definitely feeling the holiday cheer, as they just released the first trailer for the slasher sequel Scream 7! The film is set to reach theatres on February 27, 2026 and the first trailer is more substantial than I expected it to be, giving a good idea of what the story is, showing off what is probably the opening kill scene, and showcasing some cool Ghostface action and suspense sequences. You can check it out in the embed above.

Spyglass Media and Paramount once intended to make a Scream 7 that would have starred Scream (2022) and Scream VI leads Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega, with Freaky and Happy Death Day director Christopher Landon at the helm. But then Ortega allegedly asked for a substantial pay raise – and as we saw when Neve Campbell dropped out of Scream VI due to a pay dispute, these pay issues don’t tend to work out. Then Barrera was fired from the project after comments she made about the Israel-Hamas war didn’t go over well with executives at Spyglass. Landon dropped out the of the project soon after. So Scream 7 has been re-developed, Campbell has signed on to return as franchise heroine Sidney Prescott, back in the lead role, while Kevin Williamson, who wrote the screenplay for the original Scream, directs the film from a screenplay by 2022’s Scream and Scream VI writer Guy Busick, who crafted the story with his co-writer on the fifth and sixth films, James Vanderbilt. (Vanderbilt is also a producer on the most recent sequels.)  

Neve Campbell is joined in the cast by Isabel May of the Yellowstone prequel 1883, who has signed on to play Sidney’s daughter; Mckenna Grace of the Ghostbusters franchise, Grace’s Ghostbusters co-star Celeste O’Connor, Gen V‘s Asa Germann, The Fabelmans‘ Sam Rechner, Pitch Perfect‘s Anna Camp, Riverdale‘s Mark Consuelos, fellow franchise star Courteney Cox, who reprises the role of reporter / author Gale Weathers, Joel McHale (Community) as Sidney’s husband Mark Evans, and Ethan Embray (The Devil’s Candy). Although two of the “core four” characters established in the previous two movies are no longer around, Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown are back as Chad Meeks-Martin and Mindy Meeks-Martin.

Also in the cast are Matthew Lillard and Scott Foley, who played Ghostface killers in the original Scream and Scream 3, respectively, and did not appear to make it out of those movies alive. David Arquette is back as the dearly departed Dewey, who exited the world of the living in the fifth movie.

Here’s the film’s official synopsis: When a new Ghostface killer emerges in the quiet town where Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) has built a new life, her darkest fears are realized as her daughter (Isabel May) becomes the next target. Determined to protect her family, Sidney must face the horrors of her past to put an end to the bloodshed once and for all.

What did you think of the Scream 7 trailer? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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David Arquette played Riley in the first five Scream movies, finally playing the sacrifice in 2022’s entry. And while we know he is returning for next year’s Scream 7, for him, the draw of the Scream franchise goes back to the core. “I think it had a really unique take. I think Scream really understood something ahead of its time. It knew that fan culture was the future. It was also ahead of the curve of being a horror movie that had a self-referential element to it. It balanced horror and comedy in a way that hadn’t been done before.”

While the horror genre had done meta before the Scream franchise came to be (heck, even Wes Craven did so with New Nightmare), it truly was the 1996 film that changed the horror landscape. It came at the perfect time, too, helping revitalize the slasher subgenre while also tapping into the generation that adopted wicked irony, biting criticism and cultural awareness.

Stepping behind the camera for the first time in the franchise will be Kevin Williamson, who wrote the first two Screams and Scream 4. On teaming up with him in this capacity, Arquette said, “I was really excited to work with Kevin Williamson again. I mean, he’s the writer of Scream, and he’s directing this one. It’s a really great 360 moment. I can’t really say too much about the movie, but I was really excited to work with Kevin. We’ve had such a history, and he wrote the original and created this entire world, and he just knows it better than anyone.” At the very least, Arquette will be joined – at the very least – by the likes of Matthew Lillard (Stu Macher) and Scott Foley (Roman Bridger), two former Ghostfaces.

Scream 7 is due out on February 27th.

What are your top three Scream movies? Give us your ranking below!

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Entertainment Tonight recently caught up with Laurie Metcalf, who played reporter Debbie Salt – later revealed to be Mrs. Loomis, mother to Billy – in Scream 2, conspiring to get revenge with her fellow Ghostface and freaky Tarantino film student Mickey. When asked if there was a possibility if she would reprise her role, she coyly said, “I would…I would, if asked. I would if asked.” That’s not much to go on, but at this point we can’t rule out the possibility. Timothy Olyphant, on the other hand, has given more publicity to the rumored reprisal of James Stacey in The Adventures of Cliff Booth, though that debacle may have taught him to keep quiet about anything related to Mickey…

Laurie Metcalf has been quite proud of her work in Scream 2, even going so far as to say that her reveal as one of the Ghostfaces is the best in the entire franchise. Based on an article we ran last year, not everyone is on her side, but I can imagine Scream fans would welcome Mrs. Loomis with open arms (and at least one eye open) if she were to return for Scream 7.

Do you think we’ll be getting more than the already-announced returning Scream alum in Scream 7? Which deceased character do you most want back? Let us know in the comments section below!

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Spyglass Media and Paramount once intended to make a Scream 7 that would have starred Scream (2022) and Scream VI leads Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega, with Freaky and Happy Death Day director Christopher Landon at the helm. But then Ortega allegedly asked for a substantial pay raise – and as we saw when Neve Campbell dropped out of Scream VI due to a pay dispute, these pay issues don’t tend to work out. Then Barrera was fired from the project after comments she made about the Israel-Hamas war didn’t go over well with executives at Spyglass. Landon dropped out the of the project soon after. So Scream 7 has been re-developed, Campbell has signed on to return as franchise heroine Sidney Prescott, back in the lead role, while Kevin Williamson, who wrote the screenplay for the original Scream, directs the film from a screenplay by 2022’s Scream and Scream VI writer Guy Busick, who crafted the story with his co-writer on the fifth and sixth films, James Vanderbilt. (Vanderbilt is also a producer on the most recent sequels.)  

Neve Campbell is joined in the cast by Isabel May of the Yellowstone prequel 1883, who has signed on to play Sidney’s daughter; Mckenna Grace of the Ghostbusters franchise, Grace’s Ghostbusters co-star Celeste O’Connor, Gen V‘s Asa Germann, The Fabelmans‘ Sam Rechner, Pitch Perfect‘s Anna Camp, Riverdale‘s Mark Consuelos, fellow franchise star Courteney Cox, who reprises the role of reporter / author Gale Weathers, Joel McHale (Community) as Sidney’s husband Mark Evans, and Ethan Embray (The Devil’s Candy). Although two of the “core four” characters established in the previous two movies are no longer around, Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown are back as Chad Meeks-Martin and Mindy Meeks-Martin.

Also in the cast are Matthew Lillard and Scott Foley, who played Ghostface killers in the original Scream and Scream 3, respectively, and did not appear to make it out of those movies alive. David Arquette is back as the dearly departed Dewey, who exited the world of the living in the fifth movie.

Are you looking forward to Scream 7? Take a look at the title logo, then let us know by leaving a comment below.

Since I’m in Brazil, I’ll also share this image from Paramount Brasil (yes, the Scream franchise is the Panic franchise here):

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Spyglass Media and Paramount Pictures once intended to make a Scream 7 that would have starred Scream (2022) and Scream VI leads Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega, with Freaky and Happy Death Day director Christopher Landon at the helm. But then Ortega allegedly asked for a substantial pay raise – and as we saw when Neve Campbell dropped out of Scream VI due to a pay dispute, these pay issues don’t tend to work out. Then Barrera was fired from the project after comments she made about the Israel-Hamas war didn’t go over well with executives at Spyglass. Landon dropped out the of the project soon after. So Scream 7 has been re-developed, Campbell has signed on to return as franchise heroine Sidney Prescott, back in the lead role, while Kevin Williamson, who wrote the screenplay for the original Scream, directs the film from a screenplay by 2022’s Scream and Scream VI writer Guy Busick, who crafted the story with his co-writer on the fifth and sixth films, James Vanderbilt. (Vanderbilt is also a producer on the most recent sequels.)  

Neve Campbell is joined in the cast by Isabel May of the Yellowstone prequel 1883, who has signed on to play Sidney’s daughter; Mckenna Grace of the Ghostbusters franchise, Grace’s Ghostbusters co-star Celeste O’Connor, Gen V‘s Asa Germann, The Fabelmans‘ Sam Rechner, Pitch Perfect‘s Anna Camp, Riverdale‘s Mark Consuelos, fellow franchise star Courteney Cox, who reprises the role of reporter / author Gale Weathers, Joel McHale (Community) as Sidney’s husband Mark Evans, and Ethan Embray (The Devil’s Candy). Although two of the “core four” characters established in the previous two movies are no longer around, Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown are back as Chad Meeks-Martin and Mindy Meeks-Martin.

As mentioned, Matthew Lillard, Scott Foley, and David Arquette are in there as well. During an interview with People, Lillard had this to say about reprising the role of Stu Macher in Scream 7: “I’m nervous, because at this point in my life, the only thing I can do is sort of ruin how people consider Stu. [Especially] if I come back and I suck or I was lame. I haven’t seen the movie yet. I don’t know if it works, but it’s a risk. And it’s a risk that I was excited to take. At the same time, I’m nervous to see the outcome. I hope people like it.“

That said, Lillard is confident that “the movie’s fantastic, and I’m really excited for people to see it. It’s not gonna ruin the franchise, that’s the good news.“

I’m not sure how the return of the dead characters will play out in the film, but the fan theory that Ghostface is using deepfake AI videos of them to torment victims seems like the best option to me. Whatever’s going on, I look forward to seeing it.

Are you excited or nervous to see Matthew Lillard in Scream 7? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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In a “Where Are They Now?” article focused on the cast of the TV series Nashville, Entertainment Weekly mentioned this about Panettiere: “Next, she’ll team up with Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott for Scream 7 (2026).” UPDATE: Entertainment Weekly has edited their article to say, “her involvement has not been confirmed.“

Spyglass Media and Paramount Pictures once intended to make a Scream 7 that would have starred Scream (2022) and Scream VI leads Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega, with Freaky and Happy Death Day director Christopher Landon at the helm. But then Ortega allegedly asked for a substantial pay raise – and as we saw when Neve Campbell dropped out of Scream VI due to a pay dispute, these pay issues don’t tend to work out. Then Barrera was fired from the project after comments she made about the Israel-Hamas war didn’t go over well with executives at Spyglass. Landon dropped out the of the project soon after. So Scream 7 has been re-developed, Campbell has signed on to return as franchise heroine Sidney Prescott, back in the lead role, while Kevin Williamson, who wrote the screenplay for the original Scream, directs the film from a screenplay by 2022’s Scream and Scream VI writer Guy Busick, who crafted the story with his co-writer on the fifth and sixth films, James Vanderbilt. (Vanderbilt is also a producer on the most recent sequels.)  

Neve Campbell is joined in the cast by Isabel May of the Yellowstone prequel 1883, who has signed on to play Sidney’s daughter; Mckenna Grace of the Ghostbusters franchise, Grace’s Ghostbusters co-star Celeste O’Connor, Gen V‘s Asa Germann, The Fabelmans‘ Sam Rechner, Pitch Perfect‘s Anna Camp, Riverdale‘s Mark Consuelos, fellow franchise star Courteney Cox, who reprises the role of reporter / author Gale Weathers, Joel McHale (Community) as Sidney’s husband Mark Evans, and Ethan Embray (The Devil’s Candy). Oddly, Matthew Lillard and Scott Foley, who played Ghostface killers in the original Scream and Scream 3, respectively, and did not appear to make it out of those movies alive, are also in the cast. David Arquette is also back as the dearly departed Dewey. Although two of the “core four” characters established in the previous two movies are no longer around, Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown are back as Chad Meeks-Martin and Mindy Meeks-Martin.

Scream 7 is set to reach theatres on February 27, 2026. Have you been hoping to see Hayden Panettiere’s Kirby Reed in the film? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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Spyglass Media and Paramount Pictures once intended to make a Scream 7 that would have starred Scream (2022) and Scream VI leads Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega, with Freaky and Happy Death Day director Christopher Landon at the helm. But then Ortega allegedly asked for a substantial pay raise – and as we saw when Neve Campbell dropped out of Scream VI due to a pay dispute, these pay issues don’t tend to work out. Then Barrera was fired from the project after comments she made about the Israel-Hamas war didn’t go over well with executives at Spyglass. Landon dropped out the of the project soon after. So Scream 7 has been re-developed, Campbell has signed on to return as franchise heroine Sidney Prescott, back in the lead role, while Kevin Williamson, who wrote the screenplay for the original Scream, directs the film from a screenplay by 2022’s Scream and Scream VI writer Guy Busick, who crafted the story with his co-writer on the fifth and sixth films, James Vanderbilt. (Vanderbilt is also a producer on the most recent sequels.)  

Given that we have Campbell back in the lead and the writer of the original film at the helm, it seems very fitting that the franchise has circled back to Beltrami as composer now.

Neve Campbell is joined in the cast by Isabel May of the Yellowstone prequel 1883, who has signed on to play Sidney’s daughter; Mckenna Grace of the Ghostbusters franchise, Grace’s Ghostbusters co-star Celeste O’Connor, Gen V‘s Asa Germann, The Fabelmans‘ Sam Rechner, Pitch Perfect‘s Anna Camp, Riverdale‘s Mark Consuelos, fellow franchise star Courteney Cox, who reprises the role of reporter / author Gale Weathers, Joel McHale (Community) as Sidney’s husband Mark Evans, and Ethan Embray (The Devil’s Candy). Oddly, Matthew Lillard and Scott Foley, who played Ghostface killers in the original Scream and Scream 3, respectively, and did not appear to make it out of those movies alive, are also in the cast. Although two of the “core four” characters established in the previous two movies are no longer around, Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown are back as Chad Meeks-Martin and Mindy Meeks-Martin.

Are you glad to hear that Marco Beltrami is composing the Scream 7 score? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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As he recounts in the new book Your Favorite Scary Movie: How the Scream Films Rewrote the Rules of Horror (via EW), Christopher Landon was constantly receiving death threats from so-called fans of the franchise and Barrera who were upset about her leaving. “I was still sorting through my feelings about everything that had happened. When it all went down, it was something I was trying to process in a private and balanced way. When you’re a ­public-facing person, often people don’t like that. People want an immediate reaction, and they want you to agree with them.”

With the threats continuing, Christopher Landon officially decided to move on from Scream 7. “They were all screaming at someone who wasn’t even on the movie anymore. There were a lot of people who thought I was some sort of villain. That really got in my head. It was painful, and it was painful to lose a dream job in such a sudden and bizarre way.”

Christopher Landon’s reason for losing interest in Scream 7 was that, with Melissa Barrera out, that meant there would be no Sam Carpenter, who had been set up as one of the new faces of the franchise. Without her leading, he lost interest. Landon himself was replacing the duo of Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett; now, original writer Kevin Williamson – who hasn’t directed a feature since 1999’s Teaching Mrs. Tingle – has stepped in.

While Christopher Landon saw the release of Drop earlier this year, Scream 7 is slated to slice and dice on February 27th, also helping mark the first film’s 30th anniversary.

How do you think Scream 7 will fare despite all of the changes in cast and crew?

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Neve Campbell is joined in the cast by Isabel May of the Yellowstone prequel 1883, who has signed on to play Sidney’s daughter; Mckenna Grace of the Ghostbusters franchise, Grace’s Ghostbusters co-star Celeste O’Connor, Gen V‘s Asa Germann, The Fabelmans‘ Sam Rechner, Pitch Perfect‘s Anna Camp, Riverdale‘s Mark Consuelos, fellow franchise star Courteney Cox, who reprises the role of reporter / author Gale Weathers, Joel McHale (Community) as Sidney’s husband Mark Evans, and Ethan Embray (The Devil’s Candy). Oddly, Matthew Lillard and Scott Foley, who played Ghostface killers in the original Scream and Scream 3, respectively, and did not appear to make it out of those movies alive, are also in the cast. Although two of the “core four” characters established in the previous two movies are no longer around, Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown are back as Chad Meeks-Martin and Mindy Meeks-Martin.

Williamson told Cullins, with thanks to our friends at Bloody Disgusting for the transcription, “Neve wants to go back to the first one and find the suspense and really concentrate on scary and not bloody. She was smart. She goes, ‘This is the time to do it because we’re moving away from New York. We’re going back to Sidney’s life. This is the time to reset a little bit. And I’m like, ‘Yup, let’s do it.’” And if you’re worried that they might try to kill Sidney off or even try turn her into a killer, it doesn’t sound like that’s in the cards. Williamson said, “I have made it very clear, I think publicly too, that Sidney has been through so much torment, and she has been through so much trauma, that to give her anything less than a happy ending is mean. It’s just sacrilegious.“

While they’re prioritizing suspense over bloodshed, Gooding has previously promised that Scream 7 will deliver a brutal Ghostface and some gross, gory special effects.

Are you looking forward to seeing if they succeed in their attempt to make Scream 7 as suspenseful as the original? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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Gooding has previously promised that Scream 7 will deliver a brutal Ghostface and some gross, gory special effects. He also told Us Weekly what it was like to have Williamson at the helm of the film: “From a creative standpoint, [he] is the dream, because he created that world. So having a level of understanding and world building and in background and ethos of just the concept in general of Scream, was incredibly gratifying and also led to a greater understanding of the lifeblood of the series as a whole.” So this is an “all encompassing addition to the movies that can hit on all those tone and world building elements that you maybe hope for in a sequel, or just in a franchise in general.“

Neve Campbell, Gooding, and Savoy Brown are joined in the cast by Isabel May of the Yellowstone prequel 1883, who has signed on to play Sidney’s daughter; Mckenna Grace of the Ghostbusters franchise, Grace’s Ghostbusters co-star Celeste O’Connor, Gen V‘s Asa Germann, The Fabelmans‘ Sam Rechner, Pitch Perfect‘s Anna Camp, Riverdale‘s Mark Consuelos, fellow franchise star Courteney Cox, who reprises the role of reporter / author Gale Weathers, Joel McHale (Community) as Sidney’s husband Mark Evans, and Ethan Embray (The Devil’s Candy). Oddly, Matthew Lillard and Scott Foley, who played Ghostface killers in the original Scream and Scream 3, respectively, and did not appear to make it out of those movies alive, are also in the cast.

Are you looking forward to this domestic, homely, and unconventional Scream 7? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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Brie recently appeared on the Shut Up Evan podcast, where husband Dave Franco brought up the topic of Scream 7. To that, Brie asked, “Where’s my role in Scream 7?” She justified her question by adding, “I hear tons of people are coming back. I mean, Hayden [Panettiere] came back in [Scream] 6.” As it stands, little is known about the plot or approach to Scream 7, but so many returning characters — that is, the departed — could offer an incredibly fun approach.

According to Brie, part of the problem with how the Scream franchise has developed is that there is too much reliance on the main stars, suggesting the filmmakers are too afraid to off their leads, meaning the characters played by Melissa Barrera, Mason Gooding, Jasmin Savoy Brown, and Jenna Ortega, who stepped into protagonist roles beginning with 2022’s Scream. “Too many people live. The ‘core four’ needs to die. We killed [Jamie Kennedy’s Randy Meeks] in Scream 2. We should be down to two of the ‘core four,’ just by Scream 7.”

Whether or not Alison Brie is playing coy about a return for her Scream 4 character, Rebecca Walters (Sidney Prescott’s publicist who meets the wrong of Ghostface’s knife — and hurling skills — in a parking garage), she does have a point that there’s a bit of backbone missing in the movies following the original trilogy. Sure, they killed off Dewey in the fifth movie, but what is their plan for the so-called “core four”? Odds are at least one will meet their fate in Scream 7, but with so many fan favorite characters returning (likely in cameos), will we even be invested as we would have, say, in Scream VI?

Alison Brie is just the latest Scream alum to express interest in returning, as Parker Posey (Scream 3’s Jennifer Jolie) is on the list of such stars. Objectively, Posey had a far more significant role than Brie, who didn’t add a whole lot to the series despite being an overall likeable actress overall.

What do you think? Where should the cutoff be for returning characters in Scream 7? Would Rebecca Walters make the cut?

The post Alison Brie pitches her return for Scream 7 while questioning franchise’s guts appeared first on JoBlo.

Cody

In 2022, Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media revived the Scream franchise with a new entry (the fifth) that was a box office hit, earning almost $139 million at the global box office. Fourteen months later, Scream VI came along – and became an even bigger hit, pulling in almost $169 million at the global box office, a number that was up there with the series’ heyday, when the first Scream and Scream 2 made just over $170 million. (Scream 3 also made over $160 million – only Scream 4 failed to crack $100 million.) So, of course, the companies are moving full steam ahead with Scream 7. While the movie seemed, initially, to be on the fast-track to success, the track it’s on has turned out to be a shockingly bumpy ride.

MELISSA BARRERA FIRED

Melissa Barrera entered the franchise with the fifth Scream as a character named Samantha Carpenter, who turns out to have been the daughter of original Ghostface killer Billy Loomis and Christina Carpenter, a character who has not yet appeared on screen in any of the films. Barrera was back as Sam in Scream VI and was expected to return for Scream 7… but she won’t be. On November 21st, Spyglass Media confirmed that Barrera had been fired from the project. Their reasoning: “Spyglass’ stance is unequivocally clear: We have zero tolerance for antisemitism or the incitement of hate in any form, including false references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, Holocaust distortion or anything that flagrantly crosses the line into hate speech.” Apparently Barrera had made comments on social media regarding the situation in Israel and Gaza that didn’t go over well with Spyglass. Her response to the firing was, “Silence is not an option.“

When Barrera was still expected to be in the movie, she was hoping Samantha’s mom Christina (who is also the mother of Sam’s sister Tara, played by Jenna Ortega) would be showing up in the film as well. She even knew who she’d like to see play Christina: Salma Hayek. That’s very unlikely to happen now. Barrera was also hoping the next sequel would explore Sam’s mental health.

Whatever the case, Barrera does not seem to have been slowed by her firing, with her joining a pro-Palestinian protest at Sundance, where her latest (well-received) movie Your Monster premiere. She’s also got another movie with her Scream directors Radio Silence, coming out in April. That film, Abigail, is getting good buzz and she’s been front and center in the advertising campaign. Many of the stars seem to be on Barrera’s side, with her recently reuniting with much of the cast at a gala event, while Hayden Panettiere, who co-stared in Scream VI, called it “unfair and upsetting”. While the filmmakers were hoping to wrap up Sam’s story as a trilogy, during an interview with Collider, Barrera said she feels satisfied with where Scream VI left her character. “I feel like the ending of Scream VI was a very good ending, and so I don’t feel like ‘Ugh, I got left in the middle.’ No, I think people, the fans, were wanting a third movie to continue that arc, and apparently, the plan was a trilogy, even though I was only contracted for two movies . So, I did my two movies, and I’m fine. I’m good with that. I got two – that’s more than most people get. When you’re on a TV show, and it gets canceled, you can’t harp on things, you gotta move on. That’s the nature of this industry too, I get excited for the next job, I get excited for the next skin I get to put on. It’s exciting to create a different character. So yeah, I feel good. I did what I set out to do. It was always meant to be two movies for me, ’cause that was my contract, and so everything is perfect.“

JENNA ORTEGA WANTED (AND DESERVED) MORE MONEY

The day after Melissa Barrera’s firing was confirmed, it was revealed that her co-star Jenna Ortega had also exited the project. In addition to playing Tara in the Scream movies, Ortega plays the title character in Netflix’s Addams Family series Wednesday – and since season 2 of Wednesday is scheduled to film in Ireland through the spring and summer next year, her Scream 7 absence is blamed on scheduling conflicts. About a week later, it was confirmed that Ortega, who is also a lead in Beetlejuice 2, wanted a substantial salary increase. Spyglass, who seem to be rather tight-fisted with actor salaries, refused, so Ortega walked away. So we won’t be seeing either of the Carpenter sisters – who formed the “core four” group of characters with the Meeks-Martin twins (played by Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown) – in this next film.

Speaking to The Cut, Ortega denied the pay dispute reports and said she dropped out of Scream 7 because of the Melissa Barrera situation, and because the directors of Scream (2022) and Scream VI (Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett) were not coming back. Here’s the quote: “It had nothing to do with pay or scheduling. The Melissa stuff was happening, and it was all kind of falling apart. If Scream 7 wasn’t going to be with that team of directors and those people I fell in love with, then it didn’t seem like the right move for me in my career at the time.“

NEVE CAMPBELL TO RETURN

Neve Campbell played heroine Sidney Prescott in the first five Scream films, and was expected to reprise the role of Scream VI… but then she dropped out of the sequel over a pay dispute. When asked if Campbell might be brought back for a Scream 7 or if the filmmakers had given up on her, Bettinelli-Olpin replied, “We’d never give up on her. We love Neve, and we love Sidney. So we’d love to be able to make another movie with her, and we’re not giving up.“ Original Scream screenwriter Kevin Williamson, who has been involved with several of the sequels in some capacity, has spoken out in support of Campbell. He said, “I totally respect her opinion… I know exactly where she’s coming from, I know her well. I love and adore her and that’s what she did. It’s right for her. I love everyone involved in Scream and all I can say is, pay her the money. That’s what I would do, I would give her the money.” For her part, Campbell holds no ill will towards the films, recently praising the sixth film.

With Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega out of Scream 7, new reports suggested that Spyglass was looking to bring Sidney Prescott back into the picture, trying to entice Neve Campbell to return… along with newly minted Sexiest Man Alive, Patrick Dempsey, who played her love interest in Scream 3. The character, a cop named Mark Kincaid, was widely believed to be married to Sidney in the Scream universe, with her name-dropping her husband, Mark, in the fifth film. Most fans believed she was referring to Dempsey’s character, and that the two got married and started a family following the third film… but apparently that’s not the case. This movie is going to reveal that Sidney is married to a man named Mark Evans.

We heard that Dempsey was in talks to appear in the film, and he confirmed that much, but in the end he wasn’t able to join the production due to scheduling issues. As he told Variety, “It just didn’t work out and we were dealing with the fires and everything that was going on and the schedule didn’t work out, unfortunately.” Dempsey, who lives in Malibu, was referencing the series of wildfires that hit California in January of 2025.

On March 12, 2024, Campbell took to Instagram to officially confirm that she is going to be starring in the new sequel. She wrote, “Hi All. I’m so excited to announce this news!!! Sidney Prescott is coming back!!!! It’s always been such a blast and an honor to get to play Sidney in the Scream movies. My appreciation for these films and for what they have meant to me, has never waned. I’m very happy and proud to say I’ve been asked, in the most respectful way, to bring Sidney back to the screen and I couldn’t be more thrilled!!! Well actually I could. While I’ve been so incredibly lucky to make these films with both the master of horror Wes Craven and the wonderfully talented Matt and Tyler team, I’ve dreamt for many years of how amazing it would be to make one of these movies with Kevin Williamson at the helm. And now it’s happening, Kevin Williamson is going to direct Scream 7! This was his baby and it’s his brilliant mind that dreamt up this world. Kevin is not just an inspiration as an artist but has been a dear friend for many years. To the amazing Scream fans, I hope you are as excited as I am. See you on set Kevin Williamson.”

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Campbell told People that she’s being paid what she deserves this time around: “I’m really grateful that the studio heard me when I talked about pay discrepancy and when I talked about [Scream VI negotiations] not feeling respectful. When they first approached me [for Scream 7], I thought, ‘I don’t know what respectful looks like to them. We might be in very different places.’ But they started out in a strong place, so that was lovely.“

During an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Campbell was asked if Sidney will be front and center this time around. She confirmed, “We’re going to follow Sidney.” She went on to say, “I love these movies, they are so much fun to be a part of, I’m so grateful for them, I could never have imagined being a part of a movie that would have lasted this many decades. The fandom is nuts, they are incredible and very passionate about these films. I’m excited to give them a new one!“

Courteney Cox entered negotiations to return as author and reporter Gale Weathers back in March, but as of September, she still hadn’t officially signed on. Speaking with Variety, Cox said, “They’re rewriting all the time. It’s not like I don’t know what’s going on.“ Cox was able to finally close her deal in December, so Gale Weathers will be back. It would have been surprising if she didn’t end up being in this sequel, as she has been in all of the Scream movies to date.

Another original Scream star who let it be known they would gladly be involved is Matthew Lillard, who has said he would love to reprise the role of killer Stu Macher. It looks like he’ll be getting his chance, as Deadline confirmed that he is part of the cast! To celebrate the news, Lillard shared a video to Instagram in which he writes out one of Stu’s most famous lines. People has reported that Lillard is worried about messing the movie up with his appearance. He said, “I can’t say anything about it, obviously. But I am very excited and slightly terrified to be back because all I can do is really screw up a legacy that we have. I could really suck, and so that’s my fear. My fear is that I come back and sort of punish something that I could never have touched and been just fine. I hope I don’t F it up for everyone.“

When Scream 7 came up during an interview, Lillard told Coming Soon, “I was pretty excited about it. I had a lot of questions for Kevin when he called. I’m excited, really ecstatic to be back. I hope fans are happy. I hope people are excited to see me, and I just hope I don’t screw it up. I mean, you know, I think people are gonna love it. And then I think the script’s great. I think the cast is fantastic, so I’m really hopeful that it’s a home run.” Asked how it was to work with Kevin Williamson again, he said, “Oh, great. It’s like old friends, right? And Neve’s on set, and working with Neve and seeing her is great. I think that we’re all really hopeful that… look, I think the journey continuing, I think fans are gonna be excited. It’s got that vibe of like old school Scream, and so I just think we’re all really hopeful that we’re building what the fans will love and appreciate.“

There’s one person on the Scream franchise body count that has been hoping to come back for Scream 7 and hasn’t been contacted yet: Sarah Michelle Gellar, who played ill-fated college student Cici Cooper in Scream 2. Gellar told Entertainment Tonight (with thanks to Coming Soon for the transcription), “I’m not in [Scream 7]. I tried to get in [Scream 7], nobody wanted me. They were bringing everybody back. I kept thinking I would get a call, I didn’t get a call. There’s a lot of people that died in all the Scream movies that are back. Skeet [Ulrich], [Matthew] Lillard. I’m just saying, I’m waiting for my call.”

Campbell, Cox, and Lillard are being joined in the cast by Isabel May of the Yellowstone prequel 1883, who has signed on to play Sidney Prescott’s teenage daughter; Celeste O’Connor of the recent Ghostbusters movies, Gen V‘s Asa Germann, Anna Camp of Pitch Perfect, Sam Rechner, who is best known for playing jock Logan Hall in the Steven Spielberg film The Fabelmans; Mark Consuelos of Live with Kelly and Mark, Michelle Randolph of Landman, Jimmy Tatro of American Vandal, and Ethan Embry of Can’t Hardly Wait.

Embry told Bloody Disgusting, “The one thing I can tell you about Scream 7 was that it was absolutely incredible to be invited. That is a lovely community of people, from the very beginning to what it is now, and I’ve been wanting to a part of that franchise since the very beginning. I remember auditioning for Scream 1. I can’t remember if it was [Jamie] Kennedy or [Matthew] Lillard — it was one of those [characters] — but I remember not getting good feedback from Mr. Craven.” In the early Scream days, Embry was in his teens and acting in films like Empire Records, That Thing You Do!, Vegas Vacation, Can’t Hardly Wait, and Disturbing Behavior, so it’s easy to imagine him fitting into the casts of Scream or Scream 2. Instead, he had to wait for Scream 7 to come around before he could join the series.

When it was announced that May would be playing Sidney’s daughter, the news was a bit of a surprise, because the actress rumored to be in the running for that role was Mckenna Grace of the Ghostbusters franchise. Mckenna Grace has joined the cast of Scream 7 after all, we just don’t know exactly who she’ll be playing. Details on most of the new characters have not been revealed.

But if you want to hear some rumors / possible character spoilers: a while back, industry scooper Daniel Richtman claimed that Scream 7 has the following character line-up: Taylor (17-18) – Sidney’s daughter. Brian (17-18) – is Taylor’s boyfriend. Chelsea (17-18) – the heartbreaker of the group. Holly (17-18) – Taylor’s rich friend, the queen bee of the group. Logan (17-18) – Taylor’s hot, but creepy neighbor with a Ted Bundy vibe. Jennifer (40s-50s) – Logan’s mom and Sidney’s friend. So look over the cast list and see which actor you think matches which character.

Mason Gooding is reprising the role of Chad Meeks-Martin from Scream (2022) and Scream VI, and it has been confirmed that Jasmin Savoy Brown will be back as his sister Mindy. So, while the Carpenter sisters have gone off in other directions, Scream 7 will still feature two of the “Core Four.”

As for Sidney Prescott’s husband Mark Evans, that role has gone to Joel McHale (Community).

Somehow, Scott Foley, who played the Ghostface killer in Scream 3 back in 2000, is also part of the Scream 7 cast, even though his character was killed off back in 2000. As Deadline noted, Foley played “antagonist Roman Bridger, the film director and half-brother of Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell)” in Scream 3. They continued, “Roman has faked his own death before so it’s plausible that he could reprise the role in the present or perhaps in flashback form in the past if he is deceased. Could Roman have a long-lost twin? This is Scream after all, so if he returns as a ghost (face killer?) or a zombie, it would not shock most. There are so many possibilities here that I defer to franchise superfans to figure out.”

Mason Gooding told Entertainment Weekly (with thanks to Collider for sharing the quote), “Matthew Lillard’s been a huge part of my understanding and love for the medium for a very long time. … When you consider his work in the context of [the first] Scream, you realize that was actually him kind of reining it in and being more grounded given the circumstances. To see where they’re taking that understanding and dynamic in 7 is far different than I imagine anyone will be able to anticipate, and they will absolutely deliver.” Gooding added that Foley is incredible and that Scream 3 is a secret pleasure of his. He ended by saying, “I cannot wait for people to see what they’re cooking, so to speak, with Matthew and Scott… because it’s something special.“

During an appearance on Good Morning America, Foley said, with thanks to Deadline for the transcription, “I don’t know how it works out. Spoiler alert! 25 years ago I was the killer in Scream 3 and he was brutally taken to town and killed. And now I’m back in Scream 7 and I’m not sure how it’s going to work.” He went on to say, “It’s so much fun and I got to see Neve [Campbell] again and David Arquette again. And Kevin Williamson, who wrote the first one and put me in… I was in Dawson’s Creek, which was the first TV show he did years ago — he’s directing this one. And we had so much fun being on set. It was just great being around people you love and know.“

David Arquette, whose beloved character Dewey lost his life in Scream (2022), is also in the cast. When Coming Soon asked him about reprising the role of Dewey for Scream 7, David Arquette said, “I mean, it was a spoiler. It wasn’t supposed to be released. It was supposed to be a surprise. I’m not really supposed to talk about it too much, but Kevin Williamson was directing and that was a real thrill. And it’s amazing to see him be able to have that opportunity and to get Neve back in this one. And Matthew, I mean . . . It’s exciting. I love playing the role of Dewey and will always love playing the role of Dewey.“

WHO IS THE DIRECTOR?

While the first four Scream films were directed by the late, great Wes Craven, Scream (2022) and Scream VI were both directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, who form the Radio Silence team with producer Chad Villella. At the Scream VI premiere, Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett were asked about the possibility of Scream 7 happening. They replied, “We hope (there will be a Scream 7). We want to be watching Scream movies, whether we’re involved or not, for the rest of our lives.” They wanted to direct the next sequel, but they got wrapped up in making their Universal Monster movie Abigail (a project once known as Dracula’s Daughter) – so, as they put it, they were “exited” from the Scream sequel. Radio Silence remains attached to the project as executive producers. The first choice to replace Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett at the helm was Christopher Landon, the director of Happy Death Day and Freaky. But as the project fell apart around him with the exit of Ortega and the firing of Barrera, he abandoned ship. A rumor claimed that John Hyams, who previously collaborated with Kevin Williamson on the slasher movie Sick, was being considered for the directing job, with his competition being an “unidentified female director.”

Landon told Vanity Fair that when Barrera was fired, the movie “all came tumbling down in an instant. It was devastating to suddenly cancel everything. People were threatening to kill me and my family, to the point where the FBI was getting involved. I got messages saying, ‘I’m going to find your kids, and I’m going to kill them because you support child murder.’ The head of security at various studios and the FBI had to examine the threats. It was highly aggressive and really scary. I did not fire her. A lot of people think I had something to do with it, and it was not my doing. I had no control of the situation at all. I think in the absence of people understanding how Hollywood works and what the hierarchy is, the fans were like, ‘that’s the guy.’ And so they came for me, knives out.” Spyglass wanted him to start on board the project as it was reworked. “They wanted me to continue on. They basically said, ‘You can restart it. You can figure it out.’ But the amount of abuse that I had to deal with—I decided I didn’t want to give any part of myself to that. For me, it was not worth it. I would rather put my efforts into something else, where I could feel appreciated and respected. The hate and abuse really spoiled it for me, and I lost my love for the idea of going forward. In the midst of all the chaos, I was grieving the loss of one of my dream jobs. I went through all the stages—I was shocked, I was sad, and then I got angry. To be a part of this legacy, it was really hard to let it go.“

The job didn’t go to Hyams or a female director; instead, Kevin Williamson is going to be directing the film! In addition to writing the original Scream, Williamson has also written I Know What You Did Last Summer, Scream 2, The Faculty, and Halloween H20 (where his script contribution were uncredited). He wrote the initial drafts of Scream 3 and Scream 4, then those both received some major rewrites. For Scream 7, he’ll be working from a screenplay by 2022’s Scream and Scream VI writer Guy Busick, who crafted the story with his co-writer on the fifth and sixth films, James Vanderbilt. (Vanderbilt is also a producer on the most recent sequels.) Williamson made his directing debut with the 1999 thriller Teaching Mrs. Tingle. Twenty-five years later, Scream 7 will be his second directing credit.

Speaking with Screen Rant, Williamson said his decision to direct the film came about because, “It was sort of, ‘Well, what’s going to happen?’ After we lost Melissa and Jenna, and it just looked like we weren’t going to see the Carpenter sisters in a third movie, it was kind of a bummer. It’s like, ‘What do we do next?’ And then this idea to bring Sidney Prescott back — and not just bring her back, but to focus on her character, tell her story of who she is today — that got really exciting for me. And I think other people got really excited about it. And then they started writing a script. Jamie came up with this great story — Jamie Vanderbilt and Guy Busick — and they started to write this script, and it just sort of took on a life of its own. And then Neve read it and heard the pitch, and she signed on. And I was still just the executive producer who was just sort of there, watching from the sidelines. And then Neve called me one day and said, ‘I think you should direct this.’ And I went, ‘No, no, no, no, no… okay, I’ll do it.’“

Cox said that she’s “excited” that Williamson is going to be at the helm of this sequel. “You can’t get better than that choice. It’s going to be fun.“

On January 7th, Williamson took to Instagram to celebrate the first day of filming. Sharing a picture of a Scream 7 clapperboard, Williamson wrote, “I’m not supposed to post about Scream and I hope Spyglass and Paramount will forgive me but when you have one of the best days of your life it’s really hard to keep it to yourself. What an extraordinary day I had working with an amazing and talented cast and crew. They brought their “A” game and had my back every step of the way. I’m so very grateful for this opportunity and to Wes Craven who was on my mind through it all. The profound impact he has had on my life and career is endless. What a day! I can’t wait for tomorrow!“

Co-writer Guy Busick told ComicBook.com, “We always wanted to do a Sidney movie and so it was like, ‘All right, let’s get into it and why now and why this one?’ I don’t want to give anything away about the reason [Scream 7] had to be a Sidney movie because there’s a really cool reason. In all these movies, you have to ask, ‘Why now? What is the thing Scream is commenting on now?’ Scream is always in a conversation with the audience about the state of movies, the state of horror movies and in particular, franchises. … I will say there is a reason and we were happy with it when we cracked it. We went to Neve Campbell and said, ‘This is why. This is why Sidney now.’ Neve was like, ‘Oh, I get that.’ I pitched Kevin [Williamson] this first, too. He got it and then I pitched the studio. I came up with the story with my co-writer on 5 and 6, James Vanderbilt.“

Busick did admit that he and Vanderbilt had been hoping to make another “Core Four” movie (starring Barrera, Ortega, Gooding, and Brown) before getting around to their Sidney movie, but it wasn’t to be. “We weren’t able to use what we had in the previous iteration for this one. [We] just had to start from scratch, which was a bummer. We were excited about what we had for that movie. We wanted to do one more ‘Core Four’ movie. We know the fans love those characters. We love those characters. We created those characters. I would love to see, in some universe, the continuation of their characters, in some way. But we weren’t able to port over the stuff from the other story. It was like, ‘Okay, here is what the universe dealt us.’” It was Vanderbilt who found a way to bring in Gooding and Brown’s characters, despite the absence of Barrera and Ortega. “I want to give credit where credit is due, but it was an organic way why they would be in this movie. I don’t want to spoil anything, but I will say it’s through Gale. She’s the connective tissue in 5 and 6 and she’s in this. New York was obviously a big part of that. She bonded with those four and there’s a reason why these two come to this town where the action is happening.“

As for the setting, “It’s not New York. I don’t want to be the one to spoil where it is. It’s an unspecified amount of time [after VI]. I might get contradicted by other people, but in my mind, more than two years. I would say at least two years. It could be two years, but I would say two years plus.“

YouTuber CRAVEN Something Scary has shared images from the set of Scream 7 that reveal the story takes place in Pine Grove, Indiana in the fall – apparently in October or early November, as filming locations are being dressed up with fall leaves and local election signs. CRAVEN Something Scary also got their hands on footage of Ghostface walking on set, pursuing a victim at a leisurely pace. Here’s the video:

If you just want to see Ghostface:

Are you interested in Scream 7 now that we know Neve Campbell is going to be starring in the film, with Kevin Williamson directing? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.

Scream 7 is set to reach theatres on February 27, 2026.

The post Scream 7: Everything We Know About the New Sequel appeared first on JoBlo.

Actor Ethan Embry is currently doing the press rounds for his new horror movie Alma & the Wolf, which is set to receive a theatrical and digital release this Friday, June 20th – and our friends at Bloody Disgusting took the opportunity to ask him about another genre project he’s been working on, Scream 7. Embry couldn’t say much about the slasher sequel, but he did say that it was “incredible” to have the chance to be in the movie, especially since he auditioned for a role in the original Scream almost thirty years ago… and that audition didn’t go well.

Scream 7 started filming at the start of January, aiming for a February 27, 2026 release date, with Kevin Williamson, who wrote the screenplay for the original Scream, directing from a screenplay by 2022’s Scream and Scream VI writer Guy Busick, who crafted the story with his co-writer on the fifth and sixth films, James Vanderbilt. (Vanderbilt is also a producer on the most recent sequels.)

Spyglass and Paramount once intended to make a Scream 7 that would have starred Scream (2022) and Scream VI leads Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega, with Freaky and Happy Death Day director Christopher Landon at the helm. But then Ortega allegedly asked for a substantial pay raise – and as we saw when Neve Campbell dropped out of Scream VI due to a pay dispute, these pay issues don’t tend to work out. Then Barrera was fired from the project after comments she made about the Israel-Hamas war didn’t go over well with executives at Spyglass. Landon dropped out of the project soon after. So Scream 7 has been re-developed, Campbell has signed on to return as franchise heroine Sidney Prescott, back in the lead role.

In addition to Ethan Embry, Neve Campbell is joined in the cast by Isabel May of the Yellowstone prequel 1883, who has signed on to play Sidney’s daughter; Mckenna Grace of the Ghostbusters franchise, Grace’s Ghostbusters co-star Celeste O’Connor, Gen V‘s Asa Germann, The Fabelmans‘ Sam Rechner, Pitch Perfect‘s Anna Camp, fellow franchise star Courteney Cox, who reprises the role of reporter / author Gale Weathers, Joel McHale (Community) as Sidney’s husband Mark Evans, Michelle Randolph (Landman), Jimmy Tatro (American Vandal), and Mark Consuelos (Riverdale). Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown are back as Chad Meeks-Martin and Mindy Meeks-Martin from Scream (2022) and Scream VI. There are multiple deceased characters in the cast as well: Matthew Lillard and Scott Foley, who played Ghostface killers who were killed off in Scream (1996) and Scream 3, respectively, and David Arquette, whose beloved character Dewey lost his life in Scream (2022), are all in there.

Embry told Bloody Disgusting, “The one thing I can tell you about Scream 7 was that it was absolutely incredible to be invited. That is a lovely community of people, from the very beginning to what it is now, and I’ve been wanting to a part of that franchise since the very beginning. I remember auditioning for Scream 1. I can’t remember if it was [Jamie] Kennedy or [Matthew] Lillard — it was one of those [characters] — but I remember not getting good feedback from Mr. Craven.” In the early Scream days, Embry was in his teens and acting in films like Empire Records, That Thing You Do!, Vegas Vacation, Can’t Hardly Wait, and Disturbing Behavior, so it’s easy to imagine him fitting into the casts of Scream or Scream 2. Instead, he had to wait for Scream 7 to come around before he could join the series.

Are you looking forward to seeing Ethan Embry in Scream 7? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

The post Ethan Embry says it was “incredible” to be cast in Scream 7 after failed audition for the original movie appeared first on JoBlo.

Spyglass and Paramount once intended to make a Scream 7 that would have starred Scream (2022) and Scream VI leads Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega, with Freaky and Happy Death Day director Christopher Landon at the helm. But then Ortega allegedly asked for a substantial pay raise – and as we saw when Neve Campbell dropped out of Scream VI due to a pay dispute, these pay issues don’t tend to work out. Then Barrera was fired from the project after comments she made about the Israel-Hamas war didn’t go over well with executives at Spyglass. Landon dropped out of the project soon after. So Scream 7 has been re-developed, Campbell has signed on to return as franchise heroine Sidney Prescott, back in the lead role.

Neve Campbell is joined in the cast by Isabel May of the Yellowstone prequel 1883, who has signed on to play Sidney’s daughter; Mckenna Grace of the Ghostbusters franchise, Grace’s Ghostbusters co-star Celeste O’Connor, Gen V‘s Asa Germann, The Fabelmans‘ Sam Rechner, Pitch Perfect‘s Anna Camp, fellow franchise star Courteney Cox, who reprises the role of reporter / author Gale Weathers, Joel McHale (Community) as Sidney’s husband Mark Evans, Ethan Embry (The Devil’s Candy), Michelle Randolph (Landman), Jimmy Tatro (American Vandal), and Mark Consuelos (Riverdale). Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown are back as Chad Meeks-Martin and Mindy Meeks-Martin from Scream (2022) and Scream VI. There are multiple deceased characters in the cast as well: Matthew Lillard and Scott Foley, who played Ghostface killers who were killed off in Scream (1996) and Scream 3, respectively, and David Arquette, whose beloved character Dewey lost his life in Scream (2022), are all in there.

Speaking with Screen Rant, Williamson said his decision to direct the film came about because, “It was sort of, ‘Well, what’s going to happen?’ After we lost Melissa and Jenna, and it just looked like we weren’t going to see the Carpenter sisters in a third movie, it was kind of a bummer. It’s like, ‘What do we do next?’ And then this idea to bring Sidney Prescott back — and not just bring her back, but to focus on her character, tell her story of who she is today — that got really exciting for me. And I think other people got really excited about it. And then they started writing a script. Jamie came up with this great story — Jamie Vanderbilt and Guy Busick — and they started to write this script, and it just sort of took on a life of its own. And then Neve read it and heard the pitch, and she signed on. And I was still just the executive producer who was just sort of there, watching from the sidelines. And then Neve called me one day and said, ‘I think you should direct this.’ And I went, ‘No, no, no, no, no… okay, I’ll do it.’“

Williamson only has one previous directing credit, the 1999 dark comedy thriller Teaching Mrs. Tingle.

Are you looking forward to seeing what Kevin Williamson does with Scream 7? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.

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Spyglass and Paramount once intended to make a Scream 7 that would have starred Scream (2022) and Scream VI leads Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega, with Freaky and Happy Death Day director Christopher Landon at the helm. But then Ortega allegedly asked for a substantial pay raise – and as we saw when Neve Campbell dropped out of Scream VI due to a pay dispute, these pay issues don’t tend to work out. Then Barrera was fired from the project after comments she made about the Israel-Hamas war didn’t go over well with executives at Spyglass. Landon dropped out of the project soon after. So Scream 7 has been re-developed, Campbell has signed on to return as franchise heroine Sidney Prescott, back in the lead role.

Neve Campbell is joined in the cast by Isabel May of the Yellowstone prequel 1883, who has signed on to play Sidney’s daughter; Mckenna Grace of the Ghostbusters franchise, Grace’s Ghostbusters co-star Celeste O’Connor, Gen V‘s Asa Germann, The Fabelmans‘ Sam Rechner, Pitch Perfect‘s Anna Camp, fellow franchise star Courteney Cox, who reprises the role of reporter / author Gale Weathers, Joel McHale (Community) as Sidney’s husband Mark Evans, Ethan Embry (The Devil’s Candy), Michelle Randolph (Landman), Jimmy Tatro (American Vandal), and Mark Consuelos (Riverdale). Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown are back as Chad Meeks-Martin and Mindy Meeks-Martin from Scream (2022) and Scream VI. There are multiple deceased characters in the cast as well: Matthew Lillard and Scott Foley, who played Ghostface killers who were killed off in Scream (1996) and Scream 3, respectively, and David Arquette, whose beloved character Dewey lost his life in Scream (2022), are all in there.

Busick didn’t address the living dead cast members, but he did tell ComicBook.com, “We always wanted to do a Sidney movie and so it was like, ‘All right, let’s get into it and why now and why this one?’ I don’t want to give anything away about the reason [Scream 7] had to be a Sidney movie because there’s a really cool reason. In all these movies, you have to ask, ‘Why now? What is the thing Scream is commenting on now?’ Scream is always in a conversation with the audience about the state of movies, the state of horror movies and in particular, franchises. … I will say there is a reason and we were happy with it when we cracked it. We went to Neve Campbell and said, ‘This is why. This is why Sidney now.’ Neve was like, ‘Oh, I get that.’ I pitched Kevin [Williamson] this first, too. He got it and then I pitched the studio. I came up with the story with my co-writer on 5 and 6, James Vanderbilt.“

Busick did admit that he and Vanderbilt had been hoping to make another “Core Four” movie (starring Barrera, Ortega, Gooding, and Brown) before getting around to their Sidney movie, but it wasn’t to be. “We weren’t able to use what we had in the previous iteration for this one. [We] just had to start from scratch, which was a bummer. We were excited about what we had for that movie. We wanted to do one more ‘Core Four’ movie. We know the fans love those characters. We love those characters. We created those characters. I would love to see, in some universe, the continuation of their characters, in some way. But we weren’t able to port over the stuff from the other story. It was like, ‘Okay, here is what the universe dealt us.’” It was Vanderbilt who found a way to bring in Gooding and Brown’s characters, despite the absence of Barrera and Ortega. “I want to give credit where credit is due, but it was an organic way why they would be in this movie. I don’t want to spoil anything, but I will say it’s through Gale. She’s the connective tissue in 5 and 6 and she’s in this. New York was obviously a big part of that. She bonded with those four and there’s a reason why these two come to this town where the action is happening.“

As for the setting, “It’s not New York. I don’t want to be the one to spoil where it is. It’s an unspecified amount of time [after VI]. I might get contradicted by other people, but in my mind, more than two years. I would say at least two years. It could be two years, but I would say two years plus.“

Are you looking forward to Scream 7? What do you think of the story picking up two years after Scream VI? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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Scream 7 started filming at the start of January, aiming for a February 27, 2026 release date, and we’ve seen some surprising reports about the slasher sequel as it has made its way through production – with the most surprising and strange news being that Matthew Lillard and Scott Foley, who played Ghostface killers who were killed off in Scream (1996) and Scream 3, respectively, and David Arquette, whose beloved character Dewey lost his life in Scream (2022), are all in the cast. But there’s one person on the Scream franchise body count that has been hoping to come back for Scream 7 and hasn’t been contacted yet: Sarah Michelle Gellar, who played ill-fated college student Cici Cooper in Scream 2.

Gellar told Entertainment Tonight (with thanks to Coming Soon for the transcription), “I’m not in [Scream 7]. I tried to get in [Scream 7], nobody wanted me. They were bringing everybody back. I kept thinking I would get a call, I didn’t get a call. There’s a lot of people that died in all the Scream movies that are back. Skeet [Ulrich], [Matthew] Lillard. I’m just saying, I’m waiting for my call.” As she mentioned, the original Scream‘s Skeet Ulrich was another dead Ghostface killer who returned in the recent films, as his character appeared in hallucinations throughout Scream (2022) and Scream VI.

Gellar was asked to appear in the new I Know What You Did Last Summer sequel that will be reaching theatres on July 18th, but she turned that one down because her character was killed off in the original movie – and apparently she doesn’t think dead people should come back in I Know What You Did Last Summer sequels the way they’ve been coming back in Scream sequels. Her husband, Freddie Prinze Jr., does have a role in that sequel, but she still had the chance to watch it before he did.

Spyglass and Paramount once intended to make a Scream 7 that would have starred Scream (2022) and Scream VI leads Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega, with Freaky and Happy Death Day director Christopher Landon at the helm. But then Ortega allegedly asked for a substantial pay raise – and as we saw when Neve Campbell dropped out of Scream VI due to a pay dispute, these pay issues don’t tend to work out. Then Barrera was fired from the project after comments she made about the Israel-Hamas war didn’t go over well with executives at Spyglass. Landon dropped out the of the project soon after. So Scream 7 has been re-developed, Campbell has signed on to return as franchise heroine Sidney Prescott, back in the lead role, while Kevin Williamson, who wrote the screenplay for the original Scream, directs the film from a screenplay by 2022’s Scream and Scream VI writer Guy Busick, who crafted the story with his co-writer on the fifth and sixth films, James Vanderbilt. (Vanderbilt is also a producer on the most recent sequels.)

Neve Campbell is joined in the cast by Isabel May of the Yellowstone prequel 1883, who has signed on to play Sidney’s daughter; Mckenna Grace of the Ghostbusters franchise, Grace’s Ghostbusters co-star Celeste O’Connor, Gen V‘s Asa Germann, The Fabelmans‘ Sam Rechner, Pitch Perfect‘s Anna Camp, fellow franchise star Courteney Cox, who reprises the role of reporter / author Gale Weathers, Joel McHale (Community) as Sidney’s husband Mark Evans, Ethan Embry (The Devil’s Candy), Michelle Randolph (Landman), Jimmy Tatro (American Vandal), and Mark Consuelos (Riverdale). Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown are back as Chad Meeks-Martin and Mindy Meeks-Martin from Scream (2022) and Scream VI. And, as mentioned, there are multiple deceased characters in the cast as well.

Would you like to see Sarah Michelle Gellar show up in Scream 7? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.

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Spyglass and Paramount once intended to make a Scream 7 that would have starred Scream (2022) and Scream VI leads Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega, with Freaky and Happy Death Day director Christopher Landon at the helm. But then Ortega allegedly asked for a substantial pay raise – and as we saw when Neve Campbell dropped out of Scream VI due to a pay dispute, these pay issues don’t tend to work out. Then Barrera was fired from the project after comments she made about the Israel-Hamas war didn’t go over well with executives at Spyglass. Landon dropped out the of the project soon after. So Scream 7 has been re-developed, Campbell has signed on to return as franchise heroine Sidney Prescott, back in the lead role, while Kevin Williamson, who wrote the screenplay for the original Scream, directs the film from a screenplay by 2022’s Scream and Scream VI writer Guy Busick, who crafted the story with his co-writer on the fifth and sixth films, James Vanderbilt. (Vanderbilt is also a producer on the most recent sequels.)

Neve Campbell is joined in the cast by Isabel May of the Yellowstone prequel 1883, who has signed on to play Sidney’s daughter; Mckenna Grace of the Ghostbusters franchise, Grace’s Ghostbusters co-star Celeste O’Connor, Gen V‘s Asa Germann, The Fabelmans‘ Sam Rechner, Pitch Perfect‘s Anna Camp, fellow franchise star Courteney Cox, who reprises the role of reporter / author Gale Weathers, Joel McHale (Community) as Sidney’s husband Mark Evans, Ethan Embry (The Devil’s Candy), Michelle Randolph (Landman), Jimmy Tatro (American Vandal), and Mark Consuelos (Riverdale). Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown are back as Chad Meeks-Martin and Mindy Meeks-Martin from Scream (2022) and Scream VI. And, as mentioned, there are multiple deceased characters in the cast as well.

When Scream 7 came up during an interview, Lillard told Coming Soon, “I was pretty excited about it. I had a lot of questions for Kevin when he called. I’m excited, really ecstatic to be back. I hope fans are happy. I hope people are excited to see me, and I just hope I don’t screw it up. I mean, you know, I think people are gonna love it. And then I think the script’s great. I think the cast is fantastic, so I’m really hopeful that it’s a home run.” Asked how it was to work with Kevin Williamson again, he said, “Oh, great. It’s like old friends, right? And Neve’s on set, and working with Neve and seeing her is great. I think that we’re all really hopeful that… look, I think the journey continuing, I think fans are gonna be excited. It’s got that vibe of like old school Scream, and so I just think we’re all really hopeful that we’re building what the fans will love and appreciate.“

Are you looking forward to seeing Matthew Lillard play Stu again in Scream 7? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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Spyglass and Paramount once intended to make a Scream 7 that would have starred Scream (2022) and Scream VI leads Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega, with Freaky and Happy Death Day director Christopher Landon at the helm. But then Ortega allegedly asked for a substantial pay raise – and as we saw when Neve Campbell dropped out of Scream VI due to a pay dispute, these pay issues don’t tend to work out. Then Barrera was fired from the project after comments she made about the Israel-Hamas war didn’t go over well with executives at Spyglass. Landon dropped out the of the project soon after. So Scream 7 has been re-developed, Campbell has signed on to return as franchise heroine Sidney Prescott, back in the lead role, while Kevin Williamson, who wrote the screenplay for the original Scream, directs the film from a screenplay by 2022’s Scream and Scream VI writer Guy Busick, who crafted the story with his co-writer on the fifth and sixth films, James Vanderbilt. (Vanderbilt is also a producer on the most recent sequels.)

Neve Campbell is joined in the cast by Isabel May of the Yellowstone prequel 1883, who has signed on to play Sidney’s daughter; Mckenna Grace of the Ghostbusters franchise, Grace’s Ghostbusters co-star Celeste O’Connor, Gen V‘s Asa Germann, The Fabelmans‘ Sam Rechner, Pitch Perfect‘s Anna Camp, fellow franchise star Courteney Cox, who reprises the role of reporter / author Gale Weathers, Joel McHale (Community) as Sidney’s husband Mark Evans, Ethan Embry (The Devil’s Candy), Michelle Randolph (Landman), Jimmy Tatro (American Vandal), and Mark Consuelos (Riverdale). Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown are back as Chad Meeks-Martin and Mindy Meeks-Martin from Scream (2022) and Scream VI. And, as mentioned, there are multiple deceased characters in the cast as well.

When Coming Soon asked him about reprising the role of Dewey for Scream 7, David Arquette said, “I mean, it was a spoiler. It wasn’t supposed to be released. It was supposed to be a surprise. I’m not really supposed to talk about it too much, but Kevin Williamson was directing and that was a real thrill. And it’s amazing to see him be able to have that opportunity and to get Neve back in this one. And Matthew, I mean . . . It’s exciting. I love playing the role of Dewey and will always love playing the role of Dewey.“

Are you looking forward to seeing David Arquette play Dewey again in Scream 7? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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On June 11, 2018, it was announced that genre regular James Wan’s company Atomic Monster was teaming up with Amblin to produce a remake of the 1990 “nature run amok” horror film Arachnophobia – and almost exactly four years later, we heard that that Christopher Landon, director of Happy Death Day and Freaky, would be writing and directing the new take on Arachnophobia. Fourteen months after that, it was announced that Landon was set to direct Scream 7. But, as it turns out, Landon won’t be making either of those movies – and in a new interview with Vanity Fair, he revealed exactly why he stepped away from both projects.

As we all know, Scream 7 completely fell apart around Landon. At one time, it was expected that Scream (2022) and Scream VI leads Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega would be the leads in this sequel as well. But then Barrera was fired from the project after comments she made about the Israel-Hamas war didn’t go over well with executives at Spyglass, and soon after we learned that Ortega wasn’t going to be involved either. Landon sent out a statement saying that he was dropping out because his dream job had turned into a nightmare. In the Vanity Fair article, we learn exactly how nightmarish the situation got.

Landon said that when Barrera was fired, the movie “all came tumbling down in an instant. It was devastating to suddenly cancel everything. People were threatening to kill me and my family, to the point where the FBI was getting involved. I got messages saying, ‘I’m going to find your kids, and I’m going to kill them because you support child murder.’ The head of security at various studios and the FBI had to examine the threats. It was highly aggressive and really scary. I did not fire her. A lot of people think I had something to do with it, and it was not my doing. I had no control of the situation at all. I think in the absence of people understanding how Hollywood works and what the hierarchy is, the fans were like, ‘that’s the guy.’ And so they came for me, knives out.” Spyglass wanted him to start on board the project as it was reworked. “They wanted me to continue on. They basically said, ‘You can restart it. You can figure it out.’ But the amount of abuse that I had to deal with—I decided I didn’t want to give any part of myself to that. For me, it was not worth it. I would rather put my efforts into something else, where I could feel appreciated and respected. The hate and abuse really spoiled it for me, and I lost my love for the idea of going forward. In the midst of all the chaos, I was grieving the loss of one of my dream jobs. I went through all the stages—I was shocked, I was sad, and then I got angry. To be a part of this legacy, it was really hard to let it go.“

As for the Arachnophobia reboot, it got close to going into production, but “There was a component that the studio was very nervous about and uncomfortable with—and that’s where we parted. I wasn’t willing to compromise on that. I wasn’t going to make a change that really felt like a soul-crushing, sell-out, bad change.“

We don’t know what’s going on with the Arachnophobia reboot now that Landon isn’t involved, but Scream 7 has been re-developed. Neve Campbell has signed on to return as franchise heroine Sidney Prescott, back in the lead role, while Kevin Williamson, who wrote the screenplay for the original Scream, directs the film from a screenplay by 2022’s Scream and Scream VI writer Guy Busick, who crafted the story with his co-writer on the fifth and sixth films, James Vanderbilt. (Vanderbilt is also a producer on the most recent sequels.) It’s heading for a February 27, 2026 theatrical release. Landon says that “There’s no resentment at all. What else are you going to do? Wallow? Then they win. My best revenge was making something cool, and I feel like I did with Drop. My revenge wasn’t rooted in pain or anger; it was rooted in joy and moving forward. I want Scream to succeed. Kevin probably made a banger of a movie, because he knows it better than anybody. It’s going to be awesome.“

As Landon mentioned, he has made a thriller called Drop, which is set for an April 11th theatrical release. Written by Jillian Jacobs and Chris Roach, Drop centers on a single mother who receives disturbing AirDrop messages from an anonymous and malicious entity threatening the safety of her son and babysitter at home. The anonymous party threatens Fahy’s character to kill her date, or else. The movie unfolds over a single night and happens in real time.

Meghann Fahy (The Perfect Couple) stars as the single mother and is joined in the cast by Violett Beane (The Flash), Brandon Sklenar (1923), Jeffery Self (The Horror of Dolores Roach), Gabrielle Ryan (Power Book IV: Force), and newcomer Jacob Robinson, who has a large following on his parent-run Tik Tok account. Blumhouse founder Jason Blum is producing Drop alongside Platinum Dunes’ Michael Bay, Bradley Fuller, and Cameron Fuller, with Cameron being acknowledged as the person who brought the Jacobs / Roach script to Platinum Dunes in the first place. Sam Lerner serves as executive producer. The film is set up at Universal.

JoBlo’s own Chris Bumbray already had the chance to watch Drop and gave it an 8/10 review that can be read at THIS LINK. Bumbray said this is “one of (Blumhouse’s) best movies in a long time and the kind of tightly-paced, ninety-minute thriller we need more of. I had a blast.“ Landon has described the film as a blend of Hitchcock and the style of ’90s thrillers.

Are you looking forward to Drop? What do you think of what Landon had to say about his Scream 7 and Arachnophobia experiences? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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Spyglass Media and Paramount Pictures once intended to make a Scream 7 that would have starred Scream (2022) and Scream VI leads Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega. We heard that Ortega exited the project after asking for a substantial pay raise – and as we saw when Neve Campbell dropped out of Scream VI due to a pay dispute, these pay issues don’t tend to work out. Then Barrera was fired from the project after comments she made about the Israel-Hamas war didn’t go over well with executives at Spyglass. But now Ortega has given an interview where she denied that a pay dispute had anything to do with her exit.

Speaking to The Cut, Ortega said she dropped out of Scream 7 because of the Melissa Barrera situation, and because the directors of Scream (2022) and Scream VI (Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett) were not coming back. Here’s the quote: “It had nothing to do with pay or scheduling. The Melissa stuff was happening, and it was all kind of falling apart. If Scream 7 wasn’t going to be with that team of directors and those people I fell in love with, then it didn’t seem like the right move for me in my career at the time.“

So Scream 7 has been re-developed, Campbell has signed on to return as franchise heroine Sidney Prescott, back in the lead role, while Kevin Williamson, who wrote the screenplay for the original Scream, directs the film from a screenplay by 2022’s Scream and Scream VI writer Guy Busick, who crafted the story with his co-writer on the fifth and sixth films, James Vanderbilt. (Vanderbilt is also a producer on the most recent sequels.) 

Neve Campbell is joined in the cast by Isabel May of the Yellowstone prequel 1883, who has signed on to play Sidney’s daughter; Mckenna Grace of the Ghostbusters franchise, Grace’s Ghostbusters co-star Celeste O’Connor, Gen V‘s Asa Germann, The Fabelmans‘ Sam Rechner, Pitch Perfect‘s Anna Camp, fellow franchise star Courteney Cox, who reprises the role of reporter / author Gale Weathers, Joel McHale (Community) as Sidney’s husband Mark Evans, Ethan Embry (The Devil’s Candy), Michelle Randolph (Landman), Jimmy Tatro (American Vandal), and Mark Consuelos (Riverdale). Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown are back as Chad Meeks-Martin and Mindy Meeks-Martin from Scream (2022) and Scream VI. There are multiple deceased characters in the cast as well. Matthew Lillard and Scott Foley, who played Ghostface killers who were killed off in Scream (1996) and Scream 3, respectively, and David Arquette, whose beloved character Dewey lost his life in Scream (2022), are all back for this sequel.

People has reported that Lillard is worried about messing the movie up with his appearance. He said, “I can’t say anything about it, obviously. But I am very excited and slightly terrified to be back because all I can do is really screw up a legacy that we have. I could really suck, and so that’s my fear. My fear is that I come back and sort of punish something that I could never have touched and been just fine. I hope I don’t F it up for everyone.“

What do you think of what Jenna Ortega had to say about her Scream 7 exit – and what Matthew Lillard had to say about his involvement with the film? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Scream 7 is set to reach theatres on February 27, 2026.

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Scream 7 started filming at the start of January, and we’ve seen some surprising reports about the slasher sequel as it has made its way through production – with the most surprising and strange news being that Matthew Lillard and Scott Foley, who played Ghostface killers who were killed off in Scream (1996) and Scream 3, respectively, and David Arquette, whose beloved character Dewey lost his life in Scream (2022), are all in the cast. During an appearance on Good Morning America, Foley admitted that, like many Scream fans, he isn’t sure how his return actually works.

Foley said, with thanks to Deadline for the transcription, “I don’t know how it works out. Spoiler alert! 25 years ago I was the killer in Scream 3 and he was brutally taken to town and killed. And now I’m back in Scream 7 and I’m not sure how it’s going to work.” He went on to say, “It’s so much fun and I got to see Neve [Campbell] again and David Arquette again. And Kevin Williamson, who wrote the first one and put me in… I was in Dawson’s Creek, which was the first TV show he did years ago — he’s directing this one. And we had so much fun being on set. It was just great being around people you love and know.“

Spyglass and Paramount once intended to make a Scream 7 that would have starred Scream (2022) and Scream VI leads Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega, with Freaky and Happy Death Day director Christopher Landon at the helm. But then Ortega allegedly asked for a substantial pay raise – and as we saw when Neve Campbell dropped out of Scream VI due to a pay dispute, these pay issues don’t tend to work out. Then Barrera was fired from the project after comments she made about the Israel-Hamas war didn’t go over well with executives at Spyglass. Landon dropped out the of the project soon after. So Scream 7 has been re-developed, Campbell has signed on to return as franchise heroine Sidney Prescott, back in the lead role, while Kevin Williamson, who wrote the screenplay for the original Scream, directs the film from a screenplay by 2022’s Scream and Scream VI writer Guy Busick, who crafted the story with his co-writer on the fifth and sixth films, James Vanderbilt. (Vanderbilt is also a producer on the most recent sequels.)

Neve Campbell is joined in the cast by Isabel May of the Yellowstone prequel 1883, who has signed on to play Sidney’s daughter; Mckenna Grace of the Ghostbusters franchise, Grace’s Ghostbusters co-star Celeste O’Connor, Gen V‘s Asa Germann, The Fabelmans‘ Sam Rechner, Pitch Perfect‘s Anna Camp, fellow franchise star Courteney Cox, who reprises the role of reporter / author Gale Weathers, Joel McHale (Community) as Sidney’s husband Mark Evans, Ethan Embry (The Devil’s Candy), Michelle Randolph (Landman), Jimmy Tatro (American Vandal), and Mark Consuelos (Riverdale). Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown are back as Chad Meeks-Martin and Mindy Meeks-Martin from Scream (2022) and Scream VI. And, as mentioned, there are multiple deceased characters in the cast as well.

What do you think of Scott Foley coming back for Scream 7, and how do you think the return of his character works? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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There used to be a time when softball reporters would ask cast members of upcoming Scream movies, “Tell me, who is Ghostface this time around?” knowing full well they won’t get an answer. Now, ahead of Scream 7, the question has been directed at past Ghostfaces themselves. As of now, some of the heaviest franchise slashers are returning, including Billy Loomis and Stu Macher from the original and Roman Bridger from Scream 3. That leaves it wide open for any other Ghostface to emerge, which means anybody who has previously donned the mask and robe is ripe for being asked, “Tell me, are you returning for Scream 7?” This is just the situation Jack Quaid – who played Richie in 2022’s Scream, later (yet predictably) revealed to be one of two Ghostfaces – found himself in when chatting with Entertainment Tonight.

“Oh my God, I don’t know for sure yet…I don’t know. I will keep my mouth closed on that one.” That’s pretty much what we can expect on that front, as Quaid wouldn’t be the one to let it slip that Richie is returning.

This does bring up the question of just how so many past Ghostfaces from the Scream series are returning. We saw Billy Loomis appear as a vision to Sam Carpenter, who is the daughter of Loomis (Sam Loomis, get it?), in 2022’s Scream but it’s unlikely that the filmmakers will repeat the same trick. Instead, many have speculated that deepfake technology will be used to channel past Ghostfaces. Especially considering Neve Campbell will be returning after a long salary dispute, this could be the ultimate terror for Sidney Prescott, who of course has been haunted by her past ever since the first Scream. And what if things go in the right direction, Scream 7 could end up being the most meta of all.

While Scream 7 is set to wrap filming this week and be released on February 27th, 2026, official plot details have yet to be released.

Other than those confirmed, which past Ghostfaces do you want to see return for Scream 7? Slice and dice your pick in the comments section below.

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Scream 7 is well into production, but that doesn’t mean a couple more potential victims (or killers) can’t be added to the cast, as Deadline reports that Michelle Randolph and Jimmy Tatro have signed on.

Randolph has been making big waves as the breakout star of Taylor Sheridan’s Landman, where she plays the daughter of Billy Bob Thornton’s character. She also has a main role in another Sheridan series, 1923. As for Tatro, he’s best known for American Vandal, The Real Bros of Simi Valley, and starring alongside Topher Grace in Home Economics.

The cast of Scream 7 is pretty packed, including plenty of characters from across the franchise. After sitting out the last movie due to a pay dispute, Neve Campbell returns to star as Sidney Prescott. Courteney Cox is also back as Gale Weathers, as is David Arquette as Dewey Riley. Matthew Lillard will be returning as Stuart ‘Stu’ Macher from the first Scream movie, and Scott Foley will be back as Roman Bridger from Scream 3. Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown will also be returning as Chad and Mindy Meeks-Martin, respectively.

The rest of the cast includes Isabel May (Yellowstone: 1883) as Sidney’s teenage daughter, with Celeste O’Connor (Madame Web), Mckenna Grace (Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire), Sam Rechner (The Fabelmans), Asa Germaan (Gen V), Anna Camp (True Blood), Ethan Embry (Grace & Frankie), and Mark Consuelos (Riverdale) also signing on. It was originally believed that Patrick Dempsey might be returning as Mark Kincaid from Scream 3, but he had to pass due to the Los Angeles wildfires and scheduling issues. Joel McHale (Community) has since signed on to play Mark Evans, Sidney’s husband.

The original plan for Scream 7 would have seen Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega returning as Sam and Tara Carpenter, but Spyglass Media fired Barrera after a few pro-Palestinian social media posts that they deemed anti-Semitic. The next day, it was revealed that Ortega had also exited the project. It was initially reported that this was due to scheduling conflicts with the second season of Wednesday, but it later emerged that she had wanted a substantial salary increase, which Spyglass refused, so she walked.

That wasn’t the end of the drama either. Christopher Landon (Happy Death Day) was set to direct the movie, but he also departed, calling it a “dream job that turned into a nightmare.” Original Scream writer Kevin Williamson then signed on to helm the project. Scream 7 is slated for a February 27, 2026 release.

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