Scream 7 Adds Yellowstone Franchise Star (But They Might Create a Plot Hole)

Isabel May, the breakout star of Yellowstone prequels 1883 and 1923, has been cast as Sidney Prescott’s daughter in Scream 7, reveals Deadline. While it’s exciting to have an actress of such caliber added to the franchise, her role creates a significant timeline contradiction.

In 2022, SCREAM brought Neve Campbell back to reprise her role as Sidney Prescott. The movie reveals that after surviving Ghostface in four different attacks, Sidney found some happiness in marrying Detective Mark Kincaid (Patrick Dempsey). Together, they have two daughters, born between 2013 and 2015, and another child still in a stroller in 2022. 

Since Scream movies usually occur in the same year they are released, everyone expects Scream 7 to unfold in 2026. However, May’s addition to the cast could indicate the franchise is betting on a considerable time jump for its seventh installment. Even if we consider 2013 to be the birth year of May’s character, she will be 13 years old by 2026. Hollywood is known for using older characters to play high schoolers. Still, it’s a stretch to think that May, who’s 24, could pull off a young teenager without creating severe cognitive dissonance.

If Scream 7 is not dealing with a time jump, another solution would be to have May play a secret daughter of Sidney. The franchise has played around with mysterious family ties for decades, so that wouldn’t be unprecedented on a storytelling level. Yet, it’s still strange Sidney could be pregnant, theoretically love a child many years ago, and only now find out this daughter survived. Yep. Let’s go the time jump route, ok, people?

Scream 7 Promises Going Back to the Franchise’s Roots

Scream 7 underwent some deep restructuring after Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega, who led the previous two films as the Carpenter sisters, exited the project. Barrera was fired for social media comments on the Israel-Hamas conflict, while Ortega was reportedly unable to strike a deal with producer Spyglass. This shake-up led to previous director Christopher Landon throwing in the towel, later describing the experience as “a dream job that turned into a nightmare.”

In response to these departures, Spyglass put Kevin Williamson in the director’s chair. That’s huge news, considering Williamson penned the first, second, and fourth Scream installments. So, while Scream 7 marks Williamson’s directorial debut, his intimate knowledge of these characters spans nearly three decades. Guy Busick, who co-wrote the fifth and sixth movies, remains attached to pen the screenplay from a story developed with James Vanderbilt. 

The production’s dramatic shift in direction ultimately led to negotiations with Neve Campbell, whose absence from Scream VI due to a pay dispute had disappointed many fans. The actress has now reached an agreement with the studio, praising their new approach and noting they “heard her when she talked about pay discrepancy.” The lesson is that studios shouldn’t be cheap when compensating the stars who helped build their franchise.

The production is actively assembling a cast centered around the Prescott family dynamic. Dempsey is in talks to return as Sidney’s husband Mark Kincaid, though he’s expressed that his final decision depends on the script. Meanwhile, Courteney Cox’s potential return as Gale Weathers remains under negotiation, with no official confirmation yet announced.

Scream 7 slashes its way into theaters on February 27th, 2026