Scream 7 director Kevin Williamson - who wrote Wes Craven's original slasher classic - has announced that filming is now officially underway on the latest instalment in the iconic horror franchise.
The filmmaker shared a behind-the-scenes photo from the set, giving us a first look at the new title logo. As expected, this next film will ditch the Roman numeral sequencing of the previous two movies.
"I’m not supposed to post about Scream and I hope @spyglassmediagr and @paramountpics will forgive me but when you have one of the best days of your life it’s really hard to keep it to yourself," Williamson captioned his post. "What an extraordinary day I had working with an amazing and talented cast and crew. They brought their “A” game and had my back every step of the way. I’m so very grateful for this opportunity and to Wes Craven who was on my mind through it all. The profound impact he has had on my life and career is endless. What a day! I can’t wait for tomorrow!"
Neve Campbell and Courteney Cox are set to reprise their respective roles as Sidney Prescott and Gale Weathers, along with the returning Mason Gooding as Chad Meeks-Martin. New cast members include Isabel May, Celeste O’Connor, Asa Germann, Mckenna Grace and Sam Rechner.
There's no word on whether the final member of the "Core Four," Jasmin Savoy Brown, will be back as Gooding's character's sister Mindy.
Due to Melissa Barrera's (Sam Carpenter) firing over social media posts that the studio deemed to be "anti-Semitic," a lot of fans turned against Campbell and felt that she should have shown solidarity with her former co-star and declined the studio's offer to return after skipping the previous movie due to a pay dispute.
Barrera was asked about the situation in a recent interview.
“We haven’t really spoken,” Barrera told Decider. “I think everyone makes their choices, and what they think is best for them. I fully respect what people think that they need to do, to keep going in this life.”
A recent rumor may have revealed some story details. Though nothing major was disclosed, if you'd rather know as little as possible about the movie going in, here's your spoiler warning.
According to scooper MTTSH, Scream 7 "will have two main storylines, one about Sid and her friends from the neighborhood, and the second one about Sid's teen daughter Taylor (could be a codename) and her friends. Each of them will have to deal with Ghostface."
If accurate, this wouldn't necessarily contradict previous rumors, which claimed that the story will revolve around Sidney, Gale Weathers, and some new characters defending Sid's family from some kind of Ghostface cult.
There have been conflicting reports about exactly how many masked maniacs will be targetting our returning heroes, but we have heard that there will be a "big time jump" following the events of the last movie, presumably to allow for Sidney's children to have grown to appropriate slasher movie age.
Previous reports have also claimed that this film will be at least partially set in a new town (ie, not Woodsboro), and is being developed as the first instalment in a new trilogy.
Patrick Dempsey has been confirmed to return as Sidney's husband, Detective Mark Kincaid.
“Sidney Prescott is coming back!” Campbell posted on Instagram when her return was made official. “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.”