EXCLUSIVE: No spoiler alert here.
Matthew Lillard, who played Stuart ‘Stu’ Macher in the first 1996 Scream movie, is returning to the franchise for Spyglass/Paramount’s Scream 7.
How is that possible? We will see. Does Stu have a twin? Doesn’t look like it from Lillard’s Instagram post. Last we saw the horror-movie obsessed Stu, he was chasing Neve Campbell’s Sidney down 29 years ago, attempting to kill her. However, she had the upper hand, dropping a TV on his head. Also, you’ll remember that Billy and Stu began stabbing each other to make themselves look like the victims — just moments before Sidney kicked their ass.
Scream launched Lillard’s career out of a canon with the actor continuing on to star in The Scooby Doo live-action franchise, She’s All That, The Descendants and even a key role in the Blumhouse/Universal hit Five Nights at Freddy’s.
The actor joins legacy cast members Neve Campbell and Courteney Cox as well as Scott Foley, Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown, alongside newcomers Isabel May, Celeste O’Connor, Asa Germann, Mckenna Grace, Sam Rechner, Anna Camp, Joel McHale and Mark Consuelos.
Franchise creator Kevin Williamson is directing with Guy Busick (2022’s Scream and Scream VI) writing. Project X Entertainment’s James Vanderbilt, William Sherak and Paul Neinstein (2022’s Scream and Scream VI) are producing.
The long-running horror franchise previously generated four feature films including Scream (1996), Scream 2 (1997), Scream 3 (2000) and Scream 4 (2011), directed by the late Wes Craven. It relaunched with the fifth installment, Scream, in 2022.
The latest outing, Scream VI, was released theatrically worldwide in March 2023 and holds the franchise record for highest domestic box office gross with more than $108 million and has taken in more than $169 million worldwide. Collectively, the Scream franchise has earned more than $900 million in worldwide box office receipts.
Lillard is repped by Verve, Strand Entertainment, and Heller Law.
Scream 7 hits cinemas via Paramount on Feb. 27, 2026.