‘Scream 7’ – Neve Campbell Pushed for the Film to Reset Back to the Suspense of Craven’s Original

This week saw the release of Ashley Cullins’ new book Your Favorite Scary Movie: How the Scream Films Rewrote the Rules of Horror, which aims to tell “the ultimate story of the Scream franchise.” In Kevin Williamson’s own words that are featured right on the front cover, “It’s the definitive story of Scream, a true bible of its history and legacy.”

Speaking of Kevin Williamson, he’s not only the writer/creator of the original Scream but he’s also in the director’s chair for next year’s Scream 7, which will be releasing in theaters on February 27, 2026. Neve Campbell is back as Sidney Prescott, with the character taking center stage in the seventh installment, and she’ll be joined by returning players including David Arquette, Courteney Cox, Scott Foley and Matthew Lillard, with Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown also set to reprise their roles from the previous two installments.

As Kevin Williamson explains in the aforementioned book Your Favorite Scary Movie, it was Neve Campbell’s idea to tap back into the vibes of Wes Craven’s original Scream.

“Neve wants to go back to the first one and find the suspense and really concentrate on scary and not bloody,” Williamson explained to Ashley Cullins. “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.’”

“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,” Williamson also teases in the new book. “It’s just sacrilegious.”

Stay tuned for more on Scream 7, which takes place approximately two years after Scream VI.