One of the most anticipated upcoming horror movies on the way next year is the seventh Scream movie. This time around, the return of Ghostface is especially exciting because a number of legacy stars are joining Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott and new cast members, including one of the first faces behind the mask: Matthew Lillard. When the original Scream cast member was hit with a hard truth about his legacy in the franchise, he had the best reaction.
When Matthew Lillard walked the red carpet for the Los Angeles premiere of The Life Of Chuck this week, a journalist with Entertainment Tonight stated how the original Scream is about to turn 30 years old next year while framing a question about his upcoming return. Here’s how the actor responded:
Did you say Scream was turning 30 next year? That’s the rudest thing you can say on the red carpet. [Laughs] I’m leaving. That’s so mean. I literally had no idea the movie was that old.
Matthew Lillard was all smiles in the interview as he called the statement “the rudest thing,” but it goes to show the actor was in complete shock the iconic movie is close to being three decades old. Saying that kind of thing does certainly expose Lillard’s age (he’s somehow 55, even though he certainly doesn’t look it), and it doesn’t seem like he was prepared to contemplate on the passage of time. I’m sure it feels like just yesterday he played Stu!
Scream premiered in Los Angeles on December 18, 1996 before opening wide in theaters two days later to what was considered a low box office haul in its first weekend. However, the Wes Craven horror movie started to become a success thanks to word of mouth and ended up being in the top ten movies for nine weeks total, making it the 13th highest-grossing movie of 1996 (per Box Office Mojo).
Scream was one of Llllard’s first movies before he later starred in his other famous roles in SLC Punk!, She’s All That and Scooby-Doo. But since his character died in the first movie, he’s not been able to return to the franchise since then. After years of fans theorizing about Stu’s death and Lillard fanning the flames that Stu could be alive, the actor is officially returning for Scream 7. Here’s what he said about being back in the franchise:
I’m very grateful to be back. I’m excited to see the fans’ reaction, and I think the movie is going to be fantastic… All I can tell you is that [Stu] is in Scream 7. That’s all I can say.
Lillard has been dodging spoilers left and right since he was cast! Scream 7 is a curious one, because not only is Lillard back as Stu, Scott Foley’s Roman Bridger, who also died in a prior film, is coming back too, and so is David Arquette’s Dewey Riley, who died in the fifth one. It does beg to question how the heck the writers are going to pull off having so many dead characters somehow come back to life for the next movie, but we’re certainly ready to find out.
Scream 7 is being helmed by the original Scream writer Kevin Williamson from a screenplay by Guy Busick, who also did the last two Scream movies with James Vanderbilt. It was filmed earlier this year and is set to hit theaters on February 27, 2026.
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