Matthew Lillard and Scott Foley Are Returning forScream 7. But What Really Happened to Their Characters?

Mar. 15, 2025

Matthew Lillard in 1996’s ‘Scream’ and Scott Foley in 2000’s ‘Scream 3’.Photo:Dimension Films (2)

Dimension Films (2)

Spoiler alert: Two of theScreamfranchise’s killers are rising from the dead! Or are they?

On Thursday, Jan. 30,Deadlinereported thatScream 3’sScott Foley, 52, would return for thehorror series’ seventh film, due out in February 2026, in an undisclosed role.

The same day,Matthew Lillard, 55, who starred in theWes Cravendirected originalScream, posted a video onInstagramsuggesting that he too would appear in the upcoming sequel. The cryptic clip appeared to show Lillard’s hand scrawling his character’s memorable line from the 1996 slasher flick: “My mom and dad are gonna be so mad at me!”

PEOPLE has reached out to Lillard’s reps and Spyglass Media Group, which owns theScreamfranchise, for comment.

Matthew Lillard in 2021 and Scott Foley in 2023.Michael Buckner/Penske Media/Getty; Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty

Michael Buckner/Penske Media/Getty; Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty

But wait,Screamfans are no doubt thinking, didn’t both Lillard and Foley’s charactersdiein their respective films? It sure seemed like it at the time!

Details about the plot of director and originalScreamscreenwriterKevin Williamson’s upcoming sequel, which also seesNeve Campbell, 51, andCourteney Cox, 60, reprising their roles, are scarce. But the franchise has accumulated plenty of borderline soapy twists over the years, and while it remains to be seen whether Lillard and Foley will actually be returning as their original characters, it’s definitely not unheard of for horror movie villains to return from the (seeming) grave. With all that in mind, it’s worth taking a look back at whatactuallyhappened to Lillard and Foley’s characters inScreamandScream 3.

Matthew Lillard and Skeet Ulrich in ‘Scream’ in 1996.Dimension Films

Dimension Films

Here’s the metatextual twist though: Lillard revealed in a 2009 interview that his character was originally meant to return as Ghostface inScream 3, having survived his injuries. However, Williamson’s original outline for the third film, which centered on another wave of high school murders, was ultimately scrapped following the 1999Columbine High School massacre. But it’s entirely possible that screenwriter Guy Busick has drawn from Williamson’s initial idea for Stu’s return inScream 7.

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Scott Foley in ‘Scream 3’ in 2000.Dimension Films (2)

The version ofScream 3that ultimately made it to the big screen moved the action to Hollywood, where Sidney — along with Cox’s Gale Weathers andDavid Arquette’s Dewey Riley — face yet another string of Ghostface murders, this time centered on the production of a thirdStabfilm based on the masked killer.

Notably, Roman also reveals a connection to Billy and Stu, explaining that he was the mastermind behind the duo’s crimes in the first film and had urged Billy to pin their murders on Stu. With both Foley and Lillard returning, it seems possible that that whole dynamic may play out — though it’s hard to imagine how Roman survived a bullet to the head.

source: people.com