Matthew Lillard Thinks ‘Scream’ Franchise Is “In A Good Place” With Kevin Williamson

With Scream VII set to take the franchise back to its roots, Matthew Lillard is excited to see what’s next.

After Scream (1996) original writer Kevin Williamson was announced to return to the franchise to direct the upcoming seventh installment, the actor expressed his excitement to see which direction the next slasher sequel goes.

“I think it’s in a good place. I think that [the movie being] back in the hands of Kevin Williamson is great,” he told GamesRadar+. “I love what [Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin] were doing before. nothing against them. In fact, I thought they were taking a really exciting way.”

Lillard noted that he wasn’t a fan of the shotgun scene in Scream VI. “I thought the movie got too violent,” he said. “I think 6 was, like… I don’t think Ghostface ever needs a shotgun. I think that the movies are – everything is trying to repeat what we did in the first movie in a lot of ways. Like, a maniacal monologue at the end. It’s really hard to do. I hope that Kevin takes it in a brand new, brave, and exciting direction so that we can sort of find different colors and different joys.”

After OG star Neve Campbell sat out Scream VI (2023) due to a salary dispute, she announced in March that she’s back for the next film, along with Williamson as director and a script by Guy Busick.

Although Campbell noted in July that she’d yet to see a completed script, she signed on because the new film focuses once again on her ‘final girl’ character Sidney Prescott.

“We are going to follow Sidney,” she told Entertainment Tonight. “They did pitch the concept to me, and it’s the reason that I jumped on board.”

The casting news came after Scream (2022) and Scream VI (2023) star Melissa Barrera was fired from the franchise over her support for Palestine amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, which was viewed by Spyglass Media as antisemitism.