Courteney Cox In Talks For Seventh ‘Scream’

Matt Grobar
·2 min read
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Activity is heating up on the Scream front, as Courteney Cox is now in talks to return as reporter Gale Weathers, reprising the role she’s held since the first installment, sources confirmed to Deadline.

Franchise rights holder and producer Spyglass declined comment. The news comes following word that original cast member Neve Campbell will be back as final girl Sidney Prescott in the new, currently untitled film, having previously exited Scream VI amid a pay dispute.

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Scream creator and scribe Kevin Williamson is on board to direct, following Christopher Landon’s exit late last year, in his first outing behind the camera for the franchise. Guy Busick, who co-wrote 2022’s Scream reboot and Scream VI, is back to pen the script — assuming the reins from his co-writer James Vanderbilt, who is at work directing the starry historical drama Nuremberg. Vanderbilt nonetheless continues to produce Scream 7 alongside Project X Entertainment partners William Sherak and Paul Neinstein, with Radio Silence executive producing.

Campbell broke the news of her Scream return on March 12, writing on Instagram, “Sidney Prescott is coming back!!!! It’s always been such a blast and an honor to get to play Sidney in the ‘Scream’ movies. My appreciation for these films and for what they have meant to me, has never waned. I’m very happy and proud to say I’ve been asked, in the most respectful way, to bring Sidney back to the screen and I couldn”t be more thrilled.”

“It’s been nearly 30 years since my very first script, Scream, was directed by the legendary Wes Craven,” wrote Williamson on Instagram. “I never would have predicted what it would become. Or that I would be directing the seventh installment of the franchise.”

Plans for the seventh Scream shifted dramatically when Spyglass fired star Melissa Barrera over posts regarding the Israel-Hamas War, which the company saw as antisemitic. Also out, after starring in the last two films, is Jenna Ortega, who departed due to scheduling conflicts.

Hitting theaters in March 2023, the most recent Scream installment took in over $168M worldwide, breaking the record for the highest domestic box office gross in the franchise, at $108.1 million. A release date for Scream 7 hasn’t yet been announced.

Variety was first to report on Cox’s discussions for the new installment.

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