Scream 7 Confirms Return of Another Dead Character (But Fans Will Be Excited)

The cast for Scream 7 continues to grow and according to Deadline the latest member of the sequel is a major surprise. Coming on the heels of Scott Foley and Matthew Lillard’s Scream franchise resurrection it’s been revealed that none other than Dewey Riley himself, David Arquette, is set to return for the film. Scream fans are no doubt wondering how a character that died two movies ago could come back, but considering Arquette’s longstanding appeal, it’s a welcome addition. There’s certainly a theme developing here, and Dewey’s return could shed some light on just how these returning characters are going to be used in Scream 7.

It’s been reported that Foley’s Roman Bridger, another surprise dead character returning for the movie, will have a limited role in Scream 7. But there’s been a question mark hovering over Lillard’s Stu Macher, who has long had a fan theory going for him about being a still-alive mastermind of some sort. One major potential theory however is that all of these characters could be specter’s imagined by Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott. The precedent for supernatural apparitions was already set by the previous two movies in the series of course, so it wouldn’t be a shocking moment for the franchise.

Scream 7 is shaping up to be one of the franchise’s more mysterious installments. Changes were necessary after the exit of Radio Silence filmmakers Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, plus the subsequent firing of Melissa Barrera, and the departure of Jenna Ortega. It seems the strategy is to dive fully into the past and lean on nostalgia.

[RELATED: Scream 7 Needs to Answer This Major Question]

Time will tell if the seventh Scream will be the final Scream in the franchise, but even if it continues characters like Campbell’s Sydney and Courteney Cox’s Gale Weathers may not. In Scream 3‘s pre-taped Randy Meeks scene, the deceased character talks about how trilogy-cappers don’t play by the same rules as a standard sequel. If there’s a lot of digging into the past there’s a reason for it. Not only is Scream 7 bringing back all of these dead integral characters, but it’s also being directed by one of the two individuals primarily responsible for giving birth to the franchise: screenwriter Kevin Williamson.

It certainly seems like all bets are off for who can return in Scream 7, even though Stu got a television for a hat in the original film, Roman was shot multiple times (including in the head) in Scream 3; and Dewey was impaled by Oscar Winner Mikey Madison’s Amber Freeman in Scream (2022). The only individual we know for sure isn’t coming back is, oddly enough, Patrick Dempsey’s Mark Kincaid. Despite a tease that he was still around previously, the Mark that Sydney will be married to in Scream 7 will be played by Joel McHale.

Other confirmed cast members for Scream 7 include Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown, who starred in the fifth and sixth installments as twins Chad and Mindy Meeks-Martin. There will be plenty of new blood too including Isabel May, the breakout star of Yellowstone prequel 1883, who will play the daughter of Campbell’s Sidney Prescott, even though her age doesn’t exactly lineup with what we had previously learned about Sidney’s kids. Other new cast members include the Ghostbusters: Afterlife duo of McKenna Grace and Celeste O’Connor, as well as Pitch Perfect star Anna Camp.

Scream 7 is slated for a February 27, 2026, release date.