Horror movies have been in the middle of a renaissance in the last several years, with new scary movies outpacing summer blockbusters in terms of both critical praise and financial profit. Old franchises have been getting a new lease of life too, many returning to screens years after they seemed to have been buried for good. However, there have been fewer movies as contradictory or polarizing in their success as the latest entry in an iconic slasher saga that originally debuted as a knowing meta-movie, satirising the very genre it was a part of in a way that only director Wes Craven could do. The Scream franchise seemed to have already reached its end with a disappointing fourth instalment and the death of Craven, but a good horror villain doesn’t stay down for long and a new Screamtrilogy began in 2021. Now, Scream 7 is slashing through the competition on Prime Video, even if it is a movie that maybe should have never been made.
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When Scream returned in 2021, the franchise brought back several key cast members including Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, and David Arquette, as well as introducing a new wave of younger characters. Among the newcomers to the franchise were Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega playing sisters Sam and Tara Carpenter, respectively, and the trilogy was build around their characters and connections to several of the original Scream characters, including one of its villains, Billy Loomis. However, shortly before Scream 7 set cameras rolling, Barrera was unexpectedly fired by Spyglass Media Group over social media posts regarding the Israel-Hamas war. This led to a chain reaction that lost the movie its director, Christopher Landon, and Barrera’s on-screen sibling Ortega leave the project. This left the movie in turmoil and it seemed that the only option was for the new movie to be canceled.
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After weeks of uncertainty and conflicting reports, the sequel carved out a new path under the direction of original franchise scriptwriter Kevin Williamson. This new plan involved bringing back Neve Campbell – who refused to take part in the sixth movie due to a pay dispute, but was enticed back by a healthy $7 million paycheck – with Williamson stepping up to direct and Guy Busick being drafted in to do “emergency” rewrites. This saw the story pivot back to focusing on Campbell’s Sidney Prescott, with an attempt to cover some of the cracks with a gimmicky return of another franchise veteran, Matthew Lillard as Stu Macher. The film opened in February 2026 – a well-known “graveyard month” for movie releases – and secured the biggest opening of the franchise with a $97 million debut weekend. It went on to become just the second slasher movie to make over $200 million worldwide during its theatrical run. However, the financial success could not hide the feeling that the franchise should really know when it is time to quit.
Critics did not hold back in their reviews, landing Scream 7 with the franchise’s lowest Rotten Tomatoes score of 33%. While there was still some praise to be found for Cox and Campbell, the film was branded a “hollow corporate rush job” by Bloody Disgusting, and “shallow and visually atrocious” by RogerEbert.com. Audiences were more on side, as the 77% approval rating suggests, but the discourse surrounding Barrera’s firing continued to hang over the movie, even if it did not derail it. Naturally, the strong box office performance of Scream 7has ensured that Scream 8 is now in development. The question is, has the franchise managed to become the very thing it began life satirically chastising, or is there still life in another Ghostface killer to get it through one more round?
What did you think of Scream 7? Is it time for the franchise to stop now, or are you eager for more? Let us know in the comments.
Every Scream Movie Ranked (Including Scream 7)
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