Scream 7 was apparently headed for the wildest swing this series has ever taken, and Skeet Ulrich just confirmed the rumor fans have been kicking around since 2022: the plan was to turn Melissa Barrera's Sam Carpenter into Ghostface. Yes, really.
The plan you suspected was real
In a new chat with Entertainment Weekly, Ulrich explained that when he signed on for the 2022 reboot, there was a three-movie blueprint that would slowly steer Sam toward becoming the killer. His spectral Billy Loomis appearances were not just spooky fan service — they were meant to push her toward her dad's darkness, piece by piece, over three films. That is a big, eerie swing for a legacy slasher series, and honestly, kind of inspired.
'When we talked about coming back for 5, it was a three-picture arc for Billy Loomis to slowly turn his daughter into the killer... Obviously, those things didn't pan out.'
Ulrich also said he is not looped in on Scream 7 at this point, so what exists now is not what they were building before.
How the original arc fell apart
The dominoes started tipping behind the scenes. Directors Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, who helped shape Sam's trajectory in Scream (2022) and Scream VI, exited the seventh film because their schedules collided with Abigail. Since they were the architects of Sam's multi-movie turn, losing them made that long game a lot harder to pull off.
Then came the mess everyone remembers: Spyglass fired Melissa Barrera over social media posts the company said it viewed as antisemitic, framing the decision as a zero-tolerance policy issue, not a political disagreement. After that, Jenna Ortega left citing scheduling conflicts. Christopher Landon, who had been lined up to direct, also walked. With its lead gone and most of its key creatives out, Scream 7 basically collapsed and had to be rebuilt from scratch.
So what is Scream 7 now?
The movie has been reconfigured with a familiar voice steering it. Here is the snapshot of where things stand:
- Director: Kevin Williamson
- Writers: Kevin Williamson and Guy Busick
- Main cast: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Isabel May, Jasmin Savoy Brown
- Production: Spyglass Media Group
- Release date: February 27, 2026 (USA)
Would keeping Barrera have saved the original plan?
If Barrera had stayed, the series at least would have had its central character to carry the endgame. That alone could have kept the long-arc idea alive even as directors shuffled — not guaranteed, but it would have been possible. Instead, removing the lead set off a chain reaction, and the studio understandably pivoted to the safer move: reset, retool, and hand the reins back to a franchise legend.
The bummer is obvious: beyond losing an actor, the series lost a bold, unsettling trajectory that would have redefined what a Scream sequel can be.
Scream 7 hits theaters February 27, 2026.