Who’s Back for Scream 7? Every Returning Star Confirmed

Paramount just dropped the Scream 7 trailer, and yeah, it swings for the fences. New faces, old favorites, a Ghostface who looks basically impossible to put down, and a couple of returns that are going to light up group chats. If you live for legacy character chaos, this is your buffet.

The big play this time

The footage doubles down on franchise history while tweaking the mythology. It teases fresh lore around Ghostface and leans hard into nostalgia. The headline: Sidney is back, she has a family now, and Ghostface is not respecting boundaries. At all.

Who is in this thing

• New blood: Isabel May plays Sidney's daughter; Joel McHale plays Sidney's husband. Also aboard: Anna Camp, Mark Consuelos, Ethan Embry, Mckenna Grace, Celeste O'Connor, Michelle Randolph, and Jimmy Tatro.
• Legacy anchors: Neve Campbell returns as Sidney Prescott; Courteney Cox is back as Gale Weathers.
• The shockers: David Arquette's Dewey Riley shows up despite his death in Scream (2022). And Matthew Lillard returns as Stu Macher, the original co-Ghostface fans have debated for decades.
• Recent-era survivors: Mason Gooding as Chad Meeks-Martin and Jasmin Savoy Brown as Mindy Meeks-Martin.
• Essential ingredient: Roger L. Jackson once again provides the voice of Ghostface.

Why these returns matter

Sydney Prescott (Neve Campbell) remains the beating heart of the franchise. Quick refresher on her road so far: back in 1996, she was targeted by a Ghostface duo that turned out to be her boyfriend and his pal; Scream 2 followed her into college with murders tied back to the original case; Scream 3 dragged her to Hollywood and the Stab 3 set for a plot connected to her mother; Scream 4 brought her home as an author facing a new wave of killings orchestrated by her cousin; in 2022 she re-entered the fray to help a fresh group of targets; she sat out Scream VI but was mentioned. Scream 7 shifts the center of gravity to her own family, which the trailer makes very clear.

Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) has one of the series' most satisfying arcs: from ruthlessly chasing headlines to actually saving people when it counts. She has been there for every round, evolving from tabloid predator to complicated survivor. Most recently in Scream VI, she broke her promise not to cash in, wrote the book anyway, and paid for it when Ghostface attacked her in her New York apartment. The new trailer shows Gale beside Sidney again, which is exactly where you want her when things go sideways.

Dewey Riley (David Arquette) remains the franchise's soul, which is why his inclusion here is a jaw-dropper. He started as an earnest, overmatched deputy in the original, survived multiple stabbings, advised on the Stab 3 set in Hollywood, became sheriff of Woodsboro by Scream 4, and ultimately died in Scream (2022) after trying to put the mask down for good. The trailer suggests Dewey is back in some capacity. How? That is the question, and the marketing knows it.

Stu Macher (Matthew Lillard) is the return fans have whispered about for years. In the 1996 original, he was one half of the Ghostface duo and was seemingly killed when a TV smashed onto his head. Over time, the movies have winked at the idea he might have survived (including a brief party cameo in Scream 2 and nods in the two most recent films). Scream 7 finally cashes that check: Lillard is back. The how and why are being kept under wraps for now.

The vibe

The trailer plays up a Ghostface who feels unkillable and a story that folds in deep franchise lore without hiding the new toys. It is equal parts reunion special and escalation.

When it hits

Scream 7 opens in US theaters on February 26, 2026.