Neve Campbell and Kevin Williamson Are Resetting SCREAM 7 to Wes Craven's Suspenseful Roots
Get ready for a major shift in the Scream franchise. As you know, Neve Campbell and Kevin Williamson are reuniting for Scream 7 and they are going back to what made the original film such a game-changer in horror: real suspense over gore, and a focus on psychological terror rather than body count.
In Ashley Cullins' new book, Your Favorite Scary Movie: How the Scream Films Rewrote the Rules of Horror, Williamson revealed that he and Campbell agreed it's the perfect time to reset the franchise and recapture the tone that the late Wes Craven mastered in the original films.
“Neve wants to go back to the first one and find the suspense and really concentrate on scary and not bloody,” Williamson said in an excerpt shared by Bloody Disgusting.
“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.’”
This creative pivot comes after Scream VI shook things up by moving the action to New York City and notably leaving Campbell’s iconic Sidney Prescott out of the mix, due to a well-publicized pay dispute.
With Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega now officially out of the picture, the spotlight is shifting back to the franchise’s original survivor.
Williamson made it clear that Sidney deserves more than just another horror showdown. “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.”
Williamson, who originally wrote Scream and Scream 2, as well as Scream 4, is stepping behind the camera to direct for the first time in the franchise. With Campbell fully on board, it’s clear that Scream 7 will be a return to form, one that aims to honor Craven’s legacy by dialing up the tension instead of the body count.
The film slashes its way into theaters on February 27, 2026. The cast is filled with familiar faces like Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Scott Foley, Matthew Lillard, Jasmin Savoy Brown, and Mason Gooding.
They'll be joined by franchise newcomers Joel McHale, Isabel May, Celeste O’Connor, Asa Germann, Mckenna Grace, Sam Rechner, Michelle Randolph, Jimmy Tatro, Anna Camp, Mark Consuelos, and Ethan Embry.