An original Scream star has confirmed a popular Ghostface theory about Melissa Barrera’s character for the slasher’s original reboot trilogy plans. Barrera first appeared on the cast of Scream 2022 as Sam Carpenter, the daughter of Billy Loomis, one of the original Ghostfaces from the first Scream film. Billy appeared as a guiding yet malevolent spirit in Barrera’s two movies.
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly during an interview for Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, Skeet Ulrich, who played Billy, confirmed the original plan was to turn Barrera’s Sam into the next Ghostface killer. The storyline had been planned as a trilogy of movies, which Ulrich confirmed after he was asked if he was coming back for Scream 7:
I’ve been vocal about that. I’m not. When we talked about coming back for 5, it was a three-picture arc for Billy Loomis to slowly turn his daughter into the killer. Obviously, those things didn’t pan out, given certain things that happened. But, no, I know nothing about the seventh.
As Ulrich explained, Billy returned for both the fifth and sixth movies in the franchise. While Scream VI ended with Sam getting rid of her father’s Ghostface mask, it appeared there was still a plan for her to inherit the mantle come the seventh installment. Unfortunately, Barrera was fired for making anti-Israeli comments about the Gaza war.
Her co-star, Jenna Ortega, left the project not long after, alongside director Christopher London. The upcoming Scream 7 will instead focus on Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott, who is trying to save her daughter after she becomes the target of another new Ghostface. This will be her first appearance in the franchise since the fifth installment in 2022.
Sam becoming Ghostface was a popular fan theory during the release of both of the latest films. Her seemingly supernatural connection with Billy appeared to be pushing her in that direction, but her getting rid of the mask at the end of the newest installment meant it was still up in the air. Now, Ulrich has confirmed that was always her intended endgame.
However, Barrera’s firing and the subsequent reworking of Scream 7 to focus on Sidney means Sam’s story ends by rejecting her father’s murderous legacy. While this still delivers a fitting conclusion to her tale after everything she’s had to endure, it also muddles the original plan of her becoming the final villain of this arc of the franchise.
Although a light won’t be shown on Sam’s darkness anymore, the Scream series is still set to continue developing new stories within the same saga. Sidney taking the spotlight once again emphasizes her centralization in the franchise. But, had plans worked out, it would have been very compelling to see Sam pick up where her father left off.
Scream 7 arrives in theaters on February 27, 2026.
- Release Date
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February 27, 2026
- Director
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Kevin Williamson
- Writers
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Guy Busick
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Neve Campbell
Sidney Prescott
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Isabel May
Sidney’s Daughter
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Jasmin Savoy Brown
Mindy Meeks-Martin