Scream 7 Super Bowl Trailer Reveals Sidney Prescott's Ultimate Ghostface Nemesis
Ghostface is back ... again. The antagonist of the "Scream" franchise returns in "Scream 7," a movie no one really thought was going to happen (even though the box office demanded more).
Famously, the beloved franchise created by Kevin Williamson and mostly directed by Wes Craven satirizes trends in the horror genre while also starting trends of its own. Indeed, on the heels of 2023's "Scream VI," it appears that this property simply doesn't have enough new material to work with. After all, you might recall that 2022's "Scream" (the fifth movie overall) brilliantly satirized legacy sequels, which had become prevalent over the previous 15 years. "Scream VI," on the other hand, offered little more than just nostalgia for fans and a few cool scenes.
Now, "Scream 7" is doubling down on not having much to say. Paramount has released a fresh trailer for the film, tied to this weekend's Super Bowl, and it's all about how the latest Ghostface is unlike any others. It's certainly possible that Williamson (who both directed this movie and wrote it with Guy Busick) will surprise us with a nuanced and clever film about the current status of the horror genre. (Although, has it really changed that much since "Scream VI?") That being said, the new trailer doesn't give us much hope for that.
Instead, it seems the grand focus of "Scream 7" is the new Ghostface's long-gestating plan for Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell). This Ghostface is specifically targeting Sidney's daughter at this point in time since she's the same age her mother was in 1996's original "Scream." Is that enough to justify a whole new film? Probably not, but it is an excuse to reunite with old friends like Matthew Lillard's Stu (who may be, in a sense, returning from the dead).
Scream 7 seems like a pretty conventional legacy sequel (for better or for worse)
According to Paramount, "Scream 7" will follow Neve Campbell's Sidney Prescott as she's forced to "face the horrors of her past" in order to put an end to the bloodshed once and for all — for real this time. That's right, all the other times she faced down the horrors of her past weren't serious. This time, it's really real.
On top of that, "Scream 7" will largely shift its focus away from the "Core Four" of Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera), Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega), Mindy Meeks-Martin (Jasmin Savoy Brown), and Chad Meeks-Martin (Mason Gooding) from the fifth and sixth "Scream" films in the wake of Barrera being fired for allegedly making "antisemitic" comments — while posting in support of Palestine on social media, mind you — and Ortega having reportedly dropped out months before that. Be that as it may, it very much feel like diminishing returns to go from Barrera and Ortega's sisterly duo to, well, just Sidney yet again.
It doesn't help that "Scream 7" is also focusing on Sidney's daughter, Tatum (Isabel May). Tatum is presumably named after Tatum Riley (Rose McGowan), who was killed by Ghostface in 1996's original "Scream." And sure, the new generation angle could be interesting, but for now, it feels way too similar to what the 2018 "Halloween" reboot/legacy sequel did, complete with a third act revolving around a boobytrapped house. Who knows: Maybe evil actually will die tonight.
"Scream 7" will hit theaters on February 27, 2026.