The Scream film franchise is set to deliver its seventh installment early next year. Production is currently underway on Scream 7, which led to the news that franchise actors Matthew Lillard and Scott Foley would be returning for the project. Now it’s been shared that actor David Arquette, who played Dewey Riley in the first five installments of the series, will also be returning for Scream 7.
The surprising element to this announcement is that David Arquette’s character was killed off during 2022’s Scream, the fifth film in the franchise. In fact, Matthew Lillard and Scott Foley were also killed off, with the two playing separate Ghostfaces in the original Scream and Scream 3, respectively. While we’ve already known that Lillard and Foley were returning for some time now, it’s worth noting that Arquette is portraying the first returning dead character that happened to be a victim rather than a killer.
As shared via Deadline where the news was revealed:
“The trio played characters who died in the franchise and are returning in a surprise way. Details regarding how his character comes back and the film’s plot are currently under wraps.”
Of course, Dewey has been a more notable character in that he appeared in all five original Scream installments. Neve Campbell and Courteney Cox were the two characters alongside Dewey that managed to appear with him, though Cox was the only one to return for Scream VI. Now we’ll get to have the trio return – albeit in an unexpected fashion – for Scream 7.
It’s currently unknown how exactly these characters portrayed by David Arquette, Matthew Lillard, and Scott Foley are returning for Scream 7, but with original Scream creator Kevin Williamson directing this seventh installment, it will likely be quite the twist. Hopefully we’ll have more info, and at this rate, we’ll have to see who else might find a way to appear in the film.
Scream 7 is currently scheduled to hit theaters on February 27, 2026. Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional updates regarding the highly-anticipated sequel as we have them.