New SCREAM 7 Theatrical Trailer Teases More of Matthew Lillard’s Stu Macher and Revisits the Original Nightmare
If you’re heading to the movies this weekend, keep your eyes glued to the screen. A brand-new trailer for Scream 7 is playing exclusively in theaters, and it actually highlights the return of Matthew Lillard as Stu Macher.
Paramount hasn’t officially dropped the trailer online yet, but videos are already making the rounds. The footage teases another brutal chapter for Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott, who once again finds her life torn apart by a new Ghostface killer. This time, the danger hits even closer to home as Sidney’s daughter is pulled into the chaos.
Then comes the moment that has everyone talking.
In a quick shot of Lillard’s Stu Macher appearing on a computer screen, and we hear Lillard’s unmistakable voice say, “Surprise, Sidney,” echoing his delivery from the 1996 classic Scream.
Back in the original film, Sidney turned the tables on her attackers after discovering her boyfriend Billy and his best friend Stu were the killers. Billy was stabbed with an umbrella. Stu had a television dropped on his head. It looked fatal. But we never actually saw a body.
This new trailer leans into that lingering doubt. Sidney is shown visiting a psychiatric hospital where a patient has been creating deeply disturbing drawings. The imagery feels calculated. And when that phone call hits with Stu’s signature greeting, it lands hard. Could Stu have survived and spent years institutionalized?
Lillard’s return to the franchise has been public knowledge for a while. He’s openly talked about wanting to step back into Stu’s shoes.
Many assumed he might show up as a hallucination or memory, similar to how Skeet Ulrich appeared in 2022’s Scream. But the footage suggests something different.
The trailer also packs in some sharp callbacks to the original film. Sidney’s daughter, played by Isabel May, is shown tied to a chair with her mouth taped shut, mirroring the opening scene of Scream where Casey’s boyfriend met his fate. The daughter is even seen wearing Sidney’s leather jacket from Scream 2.
All of this arrives just days after director Kevin Williamson said this sequel won’t lean as heavily into the meta angle that has defined the franchise. Instead, it looks like Scream 7 may be diving straight into legacy, trauma, and unfinished business.
The cast is loaded with familiar faces. Alongside Campbell, Lillard, and May, the film brings back Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Mason Gooding, Scott Foley. and Jasmin Savoy Brown. It feels like a reunion with teeth.
If Stu Macher really did survive that TV to the head, it changes everything we thought we knew about the franchise’s first massacre. And if that “Surprise, Sidney” is any indication, he hasn’t mellowed out over the years.
Scream 7 slashes its way into theaters on February 27.
SCREAM 7 trailer leak. Do you hear what I hear?! pic.twitter.com/2D1hNh43kl
— B/R/A/D/80 📼 (@bradmiska) February 13, 2026