Following the exit of Scream (2022) and Scream VI directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett in August 2023, Christopher Landon was hired to direct the seventh Scream film. However, the film went through a creative retooling after the departure of stars Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega in late 2023, with Landon also leaving the project. In March 2024, Campbell confirmed her return to the franchise after being absent from Scream VI, with Williamson hired to direct Scream 7 after serving as writer and producer of the early films in the series. Filming began in January 2025 and concluded that March.
Scream 7 premiered at the Paramount Pictures studio lot on February 25, 2026, and was released in the United States on February 27, by Paramount Pictures. The film received negative reviews from critics.
Plot
In Woodsboro, Stab franchise fan Scott and his girlfriend Madison visit Stu Macher's house after hearing rumors that he might have survived having a television thrown on his head.[a] They are killed by Ghostface, who sets the house on fire.
In Pine Grove, Indiana, Sidney Prescott has built a new life for herself. She is married to police officer Mark Evans, runs a coffeehouse, and looks after her children, including her teenage daughter Tatum, named after Sidney's late best friend Tatum Riley. Sidney receives a call from Ghostface, who requests for a videocall and reveals himself as an aged and scarred Stu. Stu announces he is going after Tatum and is standing outside the theater where she and her classmates are rehearsing. Sidney arrives with the police as Ghostface flees after killing Tatum's classmates Hannah and Aaron.
Later that night, Ghostface emerges from Sidney's attic and holds Tatum at knifepoint. Mark attacks him but is knocked out after falling down the stairs. Sidney takes Tatum to a safe room to evade Ghostface and uses the room's alternate exit to leave the house. Ghostface chases them but is fatally run over by Gale Weathers and her assistants Mindy and Chad Meeks-Martin. Once Ghostface is unmasked, Sidney recognizes him as a suspicious man that bought coffee from her earlier, and the police discovers he is Karl Gibbs, a murderer who escaped from a nearby mental institution. Sidney and Gale get more information about Karl from institution supervisor Marco, who also recognizes Stu as a recently released "John Doe" that had no memory from before he was in Woodsboro and lived in the room next to Karl.
Mindy highlights that since Ghostface always has a personal connection to the target, Tatum should bring all of her friends together in one place. While Sidney accepts finally being interviewed by Gale on television to lure in Stu's attention, Tatum, her boyfriend Ben, and her friends Chloe and Lucas meet at a tavern. Unbeknownst to them, Mark is ambushed and repeatedly stabbed by Ghostface at home.
When the interview ends, Stu calls Sidney and warns that he is outside the tavern, prompting her to leave. Tatum gets suspicious of Ben when she finds in his car a laptop running a test to deepfake changing his face into Stu, knocks him out and runs away. Ghostface kills Chloe and Lucas and injures the Meeks twins before chasing Tatum through the streets. Ben finds her but Ghostface kills him and Tatum flees to Sidney's coffeehouse. Sidney calls Tatum and tells her to lock herself in the office and get a gun from the safe. Following Sidney's instructions, Tatum shoots Ghostface from behind a wall, and once outside the office, she finds a second Ghostface at the front door.
Stu calls Sidney and reveals Tatum is being held captive at home. Sidney finds at the television a message from Stu, who then proceeds to change his face into previous Ghostfaces Nancy Loomis and Roman Bridger, as well as Sidney's close friend and Gale's late husband Dewey Riley, to tell Sidney he is returning to how the Woodsboro killings started: a person being forced to watch a captive beloved at home.[b] Sidney goes outside and finds Tatum tied to a chair while Ghostface holds her at knifepoint. Ghostface reveals himself as Marco, who explains he used his previous experience in information technology to create "Stu". He then drags in a wounded Mark and the other Ghostface unmasks to reveal Sidney's neighbor Jessica. She explains that after reading Sidney's autobiography, she took the conclusion that Sidney succeeded because she killed who tormented her, prompting Jessica to murder her abusive husband.
When Sidney disappeared from public life and was not even present during the New York City killings,[c] Jessica was disappointed and, discovering where Sidney had moved to, spent time at the mental institution where she met Marco, ultimately moving next door to Sidney with her son Lucas, who she killed in the tavern as she considered him too similar to her husband. Jessica explains she will turn Tatum into the new Sidney by repeating the traumatic events that turned her into a final girl, but Mark cuts Tatum free and she attacks Jessica as Sidney shoots Marco dead. Jessica flees and Sidney chases her before they fight, only stopping once Tatum shoots Jessica. As Jessica attacks again, Sidney and Tatum repeatedly shoot her in the head.
In the aftermath, Sidney thanks Gale for having her back and tells Tatum about her namesake. With Gale's blessing, Mindy provides an impromptu news report about the night's events.
During the premiere of Scream VI (2023), co-director Matt Bettinelli-Olpin said: "We want to be watching Scream movies whether we're involved or not for the rest of our lives".[23] Both Bettinelli-Olpin and co-director Tyler Gillett previously expressed interest in December 2022 in bringing Neve Campbell's character Sidney Prescott back in future sequels, after Campbell declined to return in Scream VI due to a pay dispute with the film's producers.[24] The budget was $45 million (before prints and advertsing), which was co-financed 50/50 by Spyglass Media Group and Paramount Pictures.[25]
In August 2023, Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett exited the project due to scheduling conflicts with their film Abigail (2024). Christopher Landon was hired in their place.[26] That same month, pre-production was suspended due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike.[27] On November 21, 2023, it was reported that Melissa Barrera, who starred as Sam Carpenter in Scream (2022) and Scream VI, had been fired from the seventh film due to her comments about the Gaza war.[28][29] The following day, Deadline Hollywood reported that Jenna Ortega would not reprise the role of Tara Carpenter due to scheduling conflicts with her starring role as Wednesday Addams in the second season of the Netflix television series Wednesday (2025).[30] Ortega later refuted this, stating in an April 2025 interview that she left due to the changes in the creative team and cast, stating, "The Melissa stuff was happening, and it was all kind of falling apart. If Scream VII 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".[31][32]
It was then reported that the film would go through a creative retooling, with the intention of bringing back other actors from the franchise, like Campbell, along with Patrick Dempsey, who portrayed Mark Kincaid in Scream 3 (2000).[33] In December 2023, Landon announced that he had officially exited the film weeks prior.[34] He later explained he felt without Barrera the film he had signed on to direct no longer existed, and therefore there was no reason for him to continue.[35] Despite the fact that Landon was not involved in the studio's actions, he faced backlash and harassment from some Barrera fans online, to the point of having threats leveled against him and his family: "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."[36] The writing changes cost the production around $500,000 in rewrites.[37]
In March 2024, Campbell posted on her Instagram account that she would return as Sidney. She also confirmed that Kevin Williamson, writer and producer of previous Scream films, would direct from a script by Guy Busick, based on a story by Busick and James Vanderbilt.[4] Campbell's return was supported by many of her movie colleagues, including David Arquette.[39] Later that month, Courteney Cox and Dempsey were in talks to reprise their respective roles as Gale Weathers and Kincaid.[40][41][42] It was reported that Campbell was paid $7 million and Cox $2 million.[37]
In March, David Arquette was confirmed to reprise his role as Dewey Riley, a character killed in Scream (2022),[22] alongside Michelle Randolph and Jimmy Tatro in undisclosed roles.[9] Arquette was surprised the news about his return leaked, as his reprisal was meant to be a surprise and not a spoiler.[47]Tim Simons was revealed as part of the cast in October 2025.[15] In December 2025, Skeet Ulrich revealed that he was originally supposed to return as Billy Loomis in the original version of Scream 7 as part of a three-film arc, but following Barrera's firing and the film's creative retooling, he confirmed he was no longer set to appear in the film.[48]
Filming
Principal photography began in Atlanta, Georgia, on January 7, 2025,[49] and concluded on March 12.[50] According to Campbell, filming was scheduled to begin in September 2024 and was then delayed until December 2024 due to scheduling issues.[51]
Music
The film was scored by Marco Beltrami, returning from the first four installments.[52] In late August 2025, Beltrami divulged on his Instagram account that he, alongside an orchestra, had completed work on the score in Budapest. He additionally released snippets, which included new compositions titled "What's in a Name" and "School Drama". Other excerpts featured the franchise's classic piece "Sidney's Lament", as well as an orchestral reinvention of the theme called "Mrs. Evans Lament".[53] The film also features five original songs, including "Twisting the Knife" by Ice Nine Kills (ft. Mckenna Grace), "Rearranging Scars" by Sueco, "Criminal" by Jessie Murph, "The Kill" by Stella Lefty and "Creepin" by Don Toliver.[54][55]
Release
Scream 7 premiered at the Paramount Pictures studio lot in Los Angeles on February 25, 2026,[56] and was released in the United States on February 27, including in IMAX, a first for the series.[57][58]
Reception
Box office
On February 5, 2026, Deadline Hollywood reported that the film was on track for a mid-$30 million domestic opening weekend, which would place it second behind Scream VI's $44.4 million domestic opening weekend.[59] By the week of the premiere, however, estimates were raised to a $40 million debut.[2]
During Thursday previews, the film would gross $7.8 million, a franchise record.[60][61][62] On February 27, 2026, the day of its release, the film's domestic opening weekend estimate was revised to $59 million.[25]
Ahead of the film's release, Paramount Pictures and Spyglass filed a lawsuit against Alterian Ghost Factory, who had threatened to initiate litigation over rights to the Ghostface mask after claiming ownership of the mask.[65]
Future
By the film's release, an eighth film was reportedly in development.[66] Williamson and Campbell also expressed interest in making an eighth film, with both already working on ideas for the movie.[67]
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