Which horror trailer gave you goosebumps most recently? If you lean toward the newest arrivals, the freshly released first look at Scream 7 is hard to beat. The seventh entry in the Scream saga steers in a different direction from the last two films while largely recapturing the series’ classic energy.
For the first time since 2011’s Scream 4, Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott is again the primary focus, reclaiming the narrative from Sam (Melissa Barrera) and Tara (Jenna Ortega), who led Scream (2022) and Scream VI (2023). Courteney Cox also returns as Gale Weathers — she and Roger L. Jackson (the voice of Ghostface) remain among the few to appear across every film in the franchise.
The trailer hints at a new Ghostface hunting where Sidney now lives, claiming the place feels familiar to them and escalating the threat by targeting Sidney’s daughter, Tatum — a name that nods to Rose McGowan’s original character. The footage also teases Sidney’s husband, who is referenced but not seen, leaving a gap that invites speculation.
Sam and Tara may have moved on, but the trailer shows some recognizable faces from those films — namely Chad (Mason Gooding) and Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown) Meeks-Martin, Randy’s nephew and niece, returning as connective tissue to the franchise. We’ll also be formally introduced to Sidney’s husband and her daughter for the first time. More on the recurring characters is collected in this rundown of who returns.
Industry reports earlier this year suggested even bolder callbacks: Deadline indicated that characters believed dead — including Dewey (David Arquette), original co-killer Stu (Matthew Lillard), and Roman (Scott Foley) — might reappear. How that’ll be handled is unclear; it could be through visions, archival audio, or other narrative devices similar to Skeet Ulrich’s surprising return in Scream (2022).
Of course, a darker possibility is that some of those familiar faces are not as gone as we thought and could be implicated in the new string of murders alongside Sidney’s husband (Joel McHale). That might feel overstuffed, but the franchise has toyed with wild turns before — early ideas for Scream 2 once included Stu surviving and orchestrating new attacks from custody. Attentive listeners of the trailer have also noted a haunting line that sounds like Dewey: “All your friends die for just being near you.”
Behind the camera, Kevin Williamson returns to direct — his first feature-length directing credit since 1999’s Teaching Mrs. Tingle. Williamson is the architect of the franchise, having created the series and penned three of the original four scripts, so his involvement brings an evident creative through-line.
The trailer is deliberately coy, offering more tease than explanation, which leaves ample room for theories. There’s still time to parse and speculate before Scream 7 opens in theaters on Feb. 27.
Source: Polygon
