Summary
David Arquette is officially returning to theScreamfranchise as the beloved Dewey Riley inScream 7, despite his character’s brutal death in the 2022 filmScream. Arquette will be joining a star-studded ensemble that includes returning veterans Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Mason Gooding, and Jasmin Savoy Brown.
The new film will also introduce fresh faces to theScreamuniverse, with Mckenna Grace, Celeste O’Connor, Joel McHale, Asa Germann, Sam Rechner, Anna Camp, Mark Consuelos, and Ethan Embry all set to appear. In a significant move for the franchise, Kevin Williamson, the originalScreamscreenwriter, will make his directorial debut withScream 7, slated to hit theaters on July 17, 2025. However, not all familiar faces will be back. Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega, who led the franchise’s reboot,are not returning for the seventh installment. Barrera was dismissed from the project last year following controversial social media posts about Israel, while Ortega’s scheduling conflicts with Netflix’sWednesdayseries made her unavailable.
David Arquette’s Dewey was last seen being viciously stabbed by Ghostface, later revealed as Amber Freeman, played by Mikey Madison. However, in a franchise known for its twists and surprises, Dewey’s miraculous return isn’t the only one fans can expect. Scott Foley andMatthew Lillard are also set to revivetheir now-deceased characters in the highly anticipated sequel from Spyglass and Paramount Pictures.
Iconic Scream Characters Are Returning For Scream 7
Courteney Cox, who playsGale Weathers, previously expressed her desire to see Dewey back in action, stating, “I understand the reasons they did it, but whoa! Talk about a missed character. Dewey is so loved byScreamfans. They have to figure it out.” It appears the filmmakers have done just that, much to the delight of fans. Mason Gooding also teased what fans can expect from the new film, tellingVarietyearlier this year, “It feels like an amplification of what’s come before, and there’s no better indication of that than Kevin Williamson, who wrote the original, coming back now to direct. I think that Ghostface is absolutely the most brutal he’s been. I don’t want to spoil anything, but there’s some stuff that they do to the human body that I feel like Kevin is breaking new ground with.”
On the other hand, Patrick Dempsey, who played Detective Mark Kincaid in previous films, alsoconfirmed he will not be returning forScream 7. Dempsey cited logistical challenges and the impact of the recent fires in his statement toVariety, saying, “It just didn’t work out and we were dealing with the fires and everything that was going on.”
