What’s your favorite scary movie? Another Ghostface is coming to up the kill count in Scream VII — but who from the OG cast will make an appearance?
After sitting out from the franchise’s sixth installment, Neve Campbell revealed in March that she would be reprising her role of final girl Sidney Prescott.
“Hi All. I’m so excited to announce this news!!! Sidney Prescott is coming back!!!!” Campbell wrote via Instagram in March. “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.”
The original 1996 film, directed by Wes Craven, follows high school student Sidney (Campbell) as she’s targeted by masked killers who — spoiler alert! — are later revealed to be Sidney’s boyfriend, Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich), and his BFF Stu Macher (Matthew Lillard). David Arquette and Courteney Cox also starred as Deputy Dewey Riley and reporter Gale Weathers, respectively.
Craven directed the first four films before his death in 2015 — and 12 years after Scream 4 premiered, the franchise was revived with 2022’s Scream and 2023’s Scream VI. Although Campbell had a small part in Scream (2022), the torch was passed to Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega to become the new final girls.
However, the story will shift back to Campbell’s Sidney for the seventh installment after Ortega and Barrera both exited the project. While Ortega had scheduling conflicts with her Netflix series Wednesday, Barrera was fired last November following her comments about the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Scream VII is reportedly set to begin in December, but what other OG cast members will return?
Keep scrolling to find out:
Courteney Cox
After Gale’s brutal fight with Ghostface in Scream VI, fans were left wondering what was next for her character.
“I’m not officially signed on,” Cox told Variety in September. “I’m not, but there will be a Scream 7.”
Cox noted that she was “excited” the film would be directed by Kevin Williamson, who wrote the script for Scream (1996). Scream VII will mark his first time directing a film for the franchise. “You can’t get better than that choice,” Cox continued. “It’s going to be fun.”
“They’re rewriting all the time. It’s not like I don’t know what’s going on,” Cox said about making a final decision.
In October 2024, Cox shared at the Inc. 5000 Conference that she would be returning to the franchise.
“I’m the longest running Scream queen, so I guess I can’t stop now,” she said.
David Arquette
Dewey was stabbed repeatedly by Ghostface before bleeding to death in Scream (2022), so it’s likely that the character won’t be returning for Scream VII.
However, Cox — whose character was previously married to Dewey in the films and is Arquette’s ex-wife —feels optimistic about his potential return. “I understand the reasons they [killed Dewey], but whoa! Talk about a missed character,” she told Variety. “Dewey is so loved by Scream fans. They have to figure it out.”
Arquette, for his part, doesn’t seem hopeful about Dewey’s return. “I don’t think so — I mean, I don’t know!” the actor said. “I guess there’s a chance, but I haven’t gotten any calls or anything,” he said in July at Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.
In July, Arquette exclusively told Us Weekly his thoughts about coming back. “I mean I love working with Neve and Courtney. And just being able to play Dewey in any way,” he said. “I love that Kevin Williamson’s directing. I think it’s really going to be special that he’s a part of it. I think he’s gonna bring a lot of depth to it and make sure this group is really multidimensional.”
Skeet Ulrich
Similar to Dewey, Billy was killed off in the OG film. When it was revealed he was one of the Ghostface killers (along with Stu), Sidney shot him in the head.
That didn’t stop Ulrich from returning to the franchise for Scream (2022) and Scream VI (2023) as Sam Carpenter’s (Barrera) father. He appears as a part of Sam’s imagination, telling her to embrace her dark side and killer instinct and follow in his footsteps.
In February, Ulrich told Screen Rant his hopes of returning for Scream VII, noting that he originally planned to do so.
“I was hoping for exactly that, and that’s sort of the idea that was pitched to me a couple years ago. That it was a three-movie arc, with that in mind,” he explained. “Now, I never saw any of the drafts of seven or anything [like] that. And I don’t know, I mean, it’s possible that it didn’t include any of that as well. But yeah, that was my hope is that if it was going to mean anything, that it directly impacted the plot.”
Matthew Lillard
Even though Stu was stabbed and electrocuted by Sidney throwing a TV on his head, fans still haven’t been convinced he actually died — and have been rallying for the character to make a return for years.
“I stand at the ready to serve the franchise as it needs to be served. Here’s the good news — they don’t need me. I think it would be fun, but it’s not up to me,” Lillard told Collider during the Scream cast panel at Calgary Expo in April.
Williamson, however, shot down the conspiracy that Stu was still alive during a 2022 interview with Collider, noting that the rumor he survived began when Lillard made a brief cameo in the background of Scream 3.
“No, he’s dead. I think that started because of the college scene, the frat party scene because he’s standing in the background,” he explained. “He just came to visit set that night,” Williamson said.
In October 2024, Lillard once again confirmed he would not be returning for a Scream VII.
“No, I’m not in the movie. Even if I was, I would lie … directly to your face. Until the day it came out, I would just lie to you,” he told Fandom in an interview.
Hayden Panettiere
OK, so Hayden Panettiere might not have shown up until Scream 4 — not exactly an OG star — but her role as Kirby Reed was so beloved that fans rallied for her return for years before getting their wish for Scream VI. Now, they want to see her back again for Scream VII.
Since Kirby joined Gale as a legacy character in Scream VI and they both survived the latest murder spree, some fans believe Kirby’s storyline isn’t over.
That said, Panettiere was vocal about her displeasure with Barrera’s firing, calling it “very unfair and upsetting.”
“After she [spoke out], then a whole bunch of other actors and people in the industry started to do the same thing, right?” Panettiere said in a January interview with The Messenger. “It was almost like she just did it earlier than everyone else.”
Panettiere continued, “Melissa is such a badass as a human being and as an actress,” she said. “She was hurt by it, but I think she took it in stride and was very, very gracious about it.”
Patrick Dempsey
Also not an OG Scream cast member, but Patrick Dempsey’s character has been a fan favorite since he appeared in Scream 3, where he played Detective Mark Kincaid.
Even though it’s not shown on camera, it’s revealed in Scream (2022) that Sidney and Mark are now married and share three children.
When asked by Entertainment Tonight in July if Dempsey would return for Scream VII, Campbell replied, “Mayhaps, mayhaps. We’ll see.”
