It might have seemed at one point that, like the Tower of London's raven tradition, the Scream franchise could not stand without stalwarts Neve Campbell and Courteney Cox. But last year's Scream VI did well enough without Campbell (who opted to pass due to an insultingly low salary offer). Now, though, following a wave of issues and director changes, the seventh entry is most certainly headed in a nostalgic direction, with Campbell back and now Cox in talks to similarly return.
The Friends alumnus has, of course, appeared in every Scream outing to date as ambitious journalist Gale Weathers. This new movie marks the franchise getting (some of) the old band back together, as Kevin Williamson, who wrote the first film and a couple of other original entries, is stepping up to direct.
"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!!!" Campbell wrote in her statement. "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."
All that comes in the wake of Scream (2022) and Scream VI directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett opting to move on to vampire tale Abigail (due out on 19 April), star Melissa Barrera fired after online comments on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that production company Spyglass considered antisemitic and fellow lead Jenna Ortega skipping the new movie due to scheduling conflicts. Freaky director Christopher Landon had been hired to make the film, but he departed amidst the chaos of the cast shifts.
There's no word yet on when the new movie will kick off filming or when it might make it to screens.