Ghostface is back — and this time, it’s personal. Paramount Pictures has officially dropped the first trailer for Scream 7, offering a chilling glimpse at the next blood-soaked chapter of the iconic slasher saga. Directed by franchise creator Kevin Williamson, who penned the original 1996 film, the new installment marks a long-awaited homecoming. Both for the series’ signature terror and for its ultimate survivor, Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott.
After sitting out Scream VI in 2023 due to a pay dispute, Campbell’s return feels like a full-circle moment for fans who have followed Sidney’s evolution from traumatized teen to battle-hardened survivor. Now, nearly three decades after the original murders in Woodsboro, Scream 7 promises to slash deeper into the mythology — blurring the line between legacy and rebirth.
A Killer Opening: Stu Macher’s House Of Horrors
The trailer opens with what appears to be a signature Scream cold open. A couple, played by Jimmy Tatro and Michelle Randolph, checking into a Ghostface-themed bed and breakfast built on the infamous site of Stu Macher’s house from the original film. The franchise’s macabre sense of humor is on full display: a murder site turned into a tourist attraction. But things quickly take a deadly turn.
As the tension escalates, the narrative shifts focus to Sidney, who’s now living quietly in Texas under a new identity. That peace shatters when her phone rings. The caller ID reads a familiar Woodsboro area code. Ghostface’s voice purrs through the line:
“I found you, Sidney. It reminds me of where we grew up”.
This time, the killer isn’t just taunting — they’re hunting her family. Sidney’s teenage daughter, Tatum played by Isabel May, named in memory of Sidney’s late best friend Tatum Riley played by Rose McGowan, becomes the killer’s new target. The trailer teases a series of vicious encounters, culminating in a blood-curdling standoff where Sidney vows, “I’m not hiding — not this time”.
Old Wounds, New Nightmares
Amid the carnage, familiar faces return. Courteney Cox’s Gale Weathers appears back in investigative mode, while Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown return to their roles as Chad and Mindy Meeks-Martin, carrying the legacy of Scream 5 and VI. There’s even a fleeting, haunting moment that seems to confirm the death of Sidney’s husband, Mark (Joel McHale) — though, as any Scream fan knows, what’s shown is rarely what it seems.
The final montage of the trailer offers pure adrenaline! Ghostface walks away from a blazing Stu Macher house, Sidney using a remote-viewing app to help her daughter aim at the killer through a wall, and the blade glinting with firelight in the new official poster, which features the reflection of that inferno in Ghostface’s knife.
Theories, Twists, and the Return of the Dead?
While the trailer delivers plenty of thrills, it also raises just as many questions. Notably absent are the confirmed returning actors David Arquette (Dewey Riley), Matthew Lillard (Stu Macher), and Scott Foley (Roman Bridger) — all previously thought dead. Their inclusion has reignited fan theories that Scream 7 could retcon earlier deaths or incorporate hallucinations, similar to Billy Loomis’s ghostly appearances in Scream VI.
The heavy emphasis on Stu’s house — and that final shot of it in flames — suggests Williamson is taking a scorched-earth approach to the franchise’s legacy, burning away what’s familiar to make room for something new. Whether that means resurrecting old killers or passing the torch to a new generation of Ghostfaces remains the ultimate mystery.
A Legacy Reborn or Buried?
Set for release on February 27th, 2026, Scream 7 looks to redefine the meta-slasher genre once again. With Kevin Williamson back in the director’s chair and Neve Campbell returning to finish what she started, the film feels poised to blend nostalgia, reinvention, and emotional reckoning in a way only Scream can. If the trailer is any indication, the final girl is ready for her last stand. And this time, Ghostface might not be the only one wearing a mask.