The Scream franchise has shifted gears a lot over the years, but the detour taken on the way to Scream 7 might be the wildest yet.
What was once planned as the final chapter of Sam and Tara Carpenter’s arc has transformed into a very different sequel. With Melissa Barrera removed from the film, Jenna Ortega stepping away, and Kevin Williamson taking over directing duties from Christopher Landon, the creative roadmap was completely redrawn.
Now the original Ghostface plan has been revealed, and it’ll be interesting to see what fans think about what could’ve been.
The upcoming sequel, set for a February 26, 2026 release, is now going to bring Sidney Prescott back into the center of the horror series. Neve Campbell’s return is exciting, but it wasn’t the intended direction.
Scream 5 and Scream 6 had built a steady escalation around Sam and Tara’s story, teasing darker instincts in Sam and deepening her disturbing connection to Billy Loomis. That trajectory was supposed to culminate in Scream 7, and Skeet Ulrich revealed the core concept behind the trilogy the filmmakers pitched him years earlier.
Ulrich, who played the franchise’s first Ghostface and appeared to Sam in visions, confirmed that he had been lined up for another return. Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Said:
“When we talked about coming back for 5, it was a three-picture arc for Billy Loomis to slowly turn his daughter into the killer. Obviously, those things didn’t pan out, given certain things that happened. But, no, I know nothing about the seventh.”
That idea would have pushed the franchise into genuinely new territory. Scream has never turned its final girl into Ghostface. Sidney’s survival has always been rooted in her moral clarity, and part of her legacy comes from facing horror without losing herself to it.
Letting Sam slide into villainy would have rewritten the rules. For the first time, Ghostface wouldn’t be a random killer behind the mask, but a corrupted protagonist whose fall audiences had watched unfold over several films.
The shift away from that storyline means we’ll never see how far Sam’s inner turmoil could have gone or how Tara would have reacted to her sister crossing that line.
It also would have created room for deeper psychological storytelling, something the franchise only brushes against from time to time. Considering the speculation already swirling around Sam’s potential descent, this reveal confirms the filmmakers were ready to take a bold and interesting leap.
Reinventing Scream once was a challenge the 2022 and 2023 films managed surprisingly well. Reinventing it again without the Carpenter sisters is a far steeper climb.
Fans are divided over the circumstances that pushed production into a new direction, and with Paramount planning more sequels, Scream 7 will need to hit hard to maintain momentum. The pressure on Sidney’s return is massive, and the creative team will need a fresh concept that’s just as thrilling as watching a heroine become Ghostface.
Whether the franchise can pull that off is the big question. But knowing how close we came to a radically different Ghostface reveal makes the road ahead even more fascinating.
