The Scream franchise has traditionally struck a very specific tone. Wes Craven’s 1996 original is the rare film that successfully parodies the slasher movie while also managing to be one, able to release tension with laughter without diluting its scares. The sequels have mostly faced the responsibility of parodying “the Scream movie” alongside other trends in horror, all the way up to the “requel” sendup in Scream (2022) that revived the series.
Scream 6, in service of new franchise heroines the Carpenter sisters, pursued something different. An interest in Scream movies past remained, but it showed signs of shedding the self-consciousness that defined the previous installment, playing its slasher-movie scares straight. And it worked – the franchise felt vibrant again, like it was more interested in building a future than reliving the past. Scream 6 was the first of these films to earn over $100 million domestic.
In between films, however, that future went up in flames. Melissa Barrera was fired from the sequel in 2023 for comments about the war in Gaza, and Jenna Ortega left the project soon after. The movie was fully retooled, with original star Neve Campbell returning and original writer Kevin Williamson in the director’s chair. Now, ahead of the movie’s release on February 27, 2026, the first Scream 7 trailer is out.
And it looks… kinda familiar?
Why Does Scream 7’s Trailer Remind Me So Much Of Halloween?
Instead of continuing to go in its own new direction, this first trailer makes it seem like Scream 7 has found another horror franchise to emulate. Watching it, I thought immediately of Halloween – both the John Carpenter original and the 2018 reboot from David Gordon Green. Tonally, this reunion between Sydney and Ghostface compares more to Laurie and Michael’s weighty confrontation in the latter than anything in the previous Scream movies.
Ghostface himself seems characterized differently. One of the defining features of this franchise is that the various Ghostface killers are quite obviously human, and take quite a beating, but Scream 7‘s looks to be positioned as something more. He moves with precision and a relentless purpose. It’s less like a new person (or two, or three) putting on the mask than the actual boogeyman coming home.
But my déjà vu is also more specific than that. Sydney’s new, white house reminds me of Michael’s. Sydney’s daughter walking with her friends down a suburban street looks like a similar shot from the original Halloween. Ghostface does Michael’s infamous sit-up. Sydney teaches her daughter final girl skills to survive the killer, like Laurie does to her daughter and granddaughter. Even the shot of Ghostface engulfed in the flames of a burning building is definitely familiar.
On the one hand, I’m disappointed to have visual proof that the franchise direction I was so excited by is truly dead and gone. On the other hand, I’m intrigued by this. There’s a good chance it’s just marketing – the after-all-these-years-showdown angle worked for Halloween at the box office, so why not glom onto it as Scream 7‘s salvaged direction?
However, given that Williamson is behind this one, these similarities could be more than that. Carpenter’s Halloween is important in the original Scream as a totemic slasher text, to the point that the teens watch it during a house party, when Randy memorably talks to the screen. Channeling both the 1978 and 2018 movies could be a meta way for Scream 7, as a 30-years-later sequel, to go back to its roots.
Release Date
February 27, 2026
Director
Kevin Williamson
Writers
Kevin Williamson, Guy Busick, James Vanderbilt
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Neve Campbell
Sidney Prescott
