There’s a new Scream sequel heading our way, with Scream 7 scheduled to reach theatres on February 27, 2026. A full trailer for the film dropped online earlier this week (you can watch it HERE), and it’s looking very promising so far. Original Scream (plus Scream 2 and some of Scream 4) writer Kevin Williamson is at the helm this time around, working from a screenplay by 2022’s Scream and Scream VI writer Guy Busick, who crafted the story with his co-writer on the fifth and sixth films, James Vanderbilt. Franchise heroine Neve Campbell is back in the lead as Sidney Prescott, and her fellow franchise regular Courteney Cox (who, unlike Campbell, has not missed out on a single one of the films) is reprising the role of Gale Weathers. It looks like there’s plenty of reason to be excited for this one… but there’s also reason to be cautious. The reason: the fact that so many fans were burned by the recent I Know What You Did Last Summer legacy sequel. (JoBlo’s own Tyler Nichols gave it a 4/10 “dumpster fire” review that can be read at THIS LINK.) Scream 7 needs to tread carefully not to repeat the mistakes that were made by the new I Know What You Did Last Summer.
Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (Do Revenge) directed I Know What You Did Last Summer from a screenplay by Leah McKendrick (M.F.A.), which received rewrites from Robinson and journalist Sam Lansky. The project got off to its own promising start when Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. were brought back to play Julie James and Ray Bronson after an almost thirty year gap – but things did not turn out very well. The finished film has bad dialogue, annoying characters, and cringe-inducing humor, all of which are good things for any film to avoid. But another thing this movie has, something Scream 7 really needs to avoid, is a twist that felt like a slap in the face to fans of returning characters.
SPOILERS follow:
For many viewers, the new I Know What You Did Last Summer‘s biggest misstep was the fact that the filmmakers somehow thought it would make sense for the Ray Bronson character, who fought valiantly against hook-wielding killers in both the original I Know What You Did Last Summer and its first sequel, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, to become a hook-wielding killer himself.
Now, Scream fans are worried that this franchise might follow suit. (After all, the I Know What You Did Last Summer franchise started with a Williamson script, too.) Judging by the trailer, it looks like we’re safe from a “Sidney is now a killer” twist – but there’s not a lot of Gale Weathers in there, and we can only hope she’s not the one wearing the Ghostface mask this time. Turning a character we’ve followed through six movies and multiple Ghostface encounters into the new Ghostface would be even worse than making Ray Bronson a killer after two movies. A twist like that would be a deal-breaker for a lot of Scream fans.
The lesson here is, don’t mess with established characters. Don’t twist heroes around and turn them into villains. Gale Weathers has always been a flawed character, but a Ghostface maniac she is not. I’ll admit, I’m getting tired of the “look who’s under the mask this time” endings of Scream movies in general, but let’s not shake things up by making the wrong person a killer.
What did you think of the I Know What You Did Last Summer killer twist, and what would you think if a Scream sequel turned Sidney or Gale into the latest Ghostface? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
