Two scream legends unexpectedly return to the franchise for seventh film

Yahoo

31-01-2025

Matthew Lillard and Scott Foley, who played Ghostface killers Stuart 'Stu' Macher and Roman Bridger in the Scream franchise, will be returning for the forthcoming seventh instalment.
Lillard, whose character died when a TV was dropped on his head at the end of the first Scream film, has shared a cryptic video on Instagram showing a hand writing a note that references one of his character's most iconic lines: 'My mom and dad are gonna be so mad at me!!'
In the original film, Macher and Billy Loomis, the boyfriend of franchise protagonist Sidney Prescott, were revealed to be the Ghostface killers, with Sidney killing both characters at the end of the movie.
Deadline reports that Lillard is returning to the long-running horror franchise, joining legacy cast members Foley, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown, alongside newcomers Isabel May, Celeste O'Connor, Asa Germann, Mckenna Grace, Sam Rechner, Anna Camp, Joel McHale and Mark Consuelos.
Foley's Roman Bridger was shot dead by Dewey Riley in Scream 3 after he was revealed as that film's Ghostface killer.
How and why Lillard and Foley's characters make a return remains a mystery – they could return as ghosts, come back from the dead or simply feature in a flashback scene.
Roman faked his own death before, so it's possible that he could reprise the role in the present. Meanwhile, fans have wondered whether the pair could be returning Stu and Roman's twin brothers, based on long-held franchise rumours that Stu had a secret twin.
It comes after Neve Campbell announced that she will be returning for Scream 7 after having left the franchise in June 2022 over a pay dispute with the studio.
The actor, who starred as the film series' recurring protagonist Sidney Prescott across the first five films, dropped out before the sixth film explaining that the studio's offer 'did not equate to the value I have brought to the franchise'.
However, she said she was delighted to return, writing online: 'Sidney Prescott is coming back!!! It's always been such a blast and an honour to get to play Sidney in the Scream movies. My appreciation for these films and for what they have meant to me, has never waned. I'm very happy and proud to say I've been asked, in the most respectful way, to bring Sidney back to the screen and I couldn't be more thrilled.'
After finding fame from Scream, Lillard went on to voice Shaggy Rogers in the Scooby Doo live-action films, and had roles in She's All That and The Descendants. Foley went on to star in the political drama series The Girls on the Bus and played Jake Ballard in six seasons of ABC's hit drama, Scandal.
The forthcoming Scream film will be directed by franchise creator Kevin Williamson and Guy Busick, who worked on the fifth and sixth films, as the writer.
The long-running horror franchise previously generated four feature films including Scream (1996), Scream 2 (1997), Scream 3 (2000) and Scream 4 (2011), directed by Wes Craven. It relaunched with the fifth instalment in 2022. The latter film saw Anora star Mikey Madison play Amber Freeman, who was revealed as Ghostface, responsible for the death of David Arquette's character Sheriff Dewey Riley.
The sixth instalment of the franchise, released in 2023, saw Jenna Ortega star as Tara Carpenter, as the survivors of the Ghostface killings left Woodsboro behind and started a fresh chapter in New York City.
Scream 7 will be released in February 2026.