Summary
Scream 7had to go through a rewrite when its main stars, Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega, left the project, and the rumored original story for their characters makes me happy that it’s no longer happening. Many horror franchises have taken advantage of the ongoing legacy sequels and reboot trends, but not all of them have succeeded.TheScreamfranchiseseized these trends and made a big comeback in 2022 with a fifth movie simply titledScream, marking the beginning of a reboot trilogy.Scream 7is now in development, but it had to go through major changesdue to different issues.
Scream 7was supposed to continue the stories of the reboot trilogy’s Final Girls, sisters Sam (Barrera) and Tara Carpenter (Ortega), but Barrera’s exit, Ortega dropping out due to scheduling conflicts, and director Christopher Landon also leaving forced production to change its plans.Scream 7is now being directed by franchise creator Kevin Williamson and will have Neve Campbell back as Sidney Prescott, as well as a completely new story. Now,details aboutScream 7’s original story may have been revealed, but they only make me happy that version is no longer happening.
What Neve Campbell’s Return Means For Scream 7: Can It Save The $913M Horror Franchise?
Neve Campbell is officially coming back for Scream 7, and though this can open many doors for the franchise, its survival might not be guaranteed.
Scream 7’s Original Plan Would Have Seen Tara’s Death & Sam’s Dark Turn
Scream 7 Would Have Seen A Huge Change In Sam
Sam and Tara made their debut inScream2022, as they became the targets of the new Ghostface killers along with their friends. Sam was revealed to have a direct connection to the original Woodsboro murders as she’s the daughter of Billy Loomis, and she had hallucinations of her father telling her to give in to her dark side. Sam and Tara survivedthe Ghostface murders ofScream2022andScream 6, and as there are a lot of questions to answer about their past, they were supposed to return inScream 7, but that’s no longer the case.
As Ortega already had a busy schedule, Tara would have died inScream 7, which would have directly impacted Sam’s story.
Plot details ofScream 7haven’t been confirmed, but there have been many rumors and “leaks” that say it will have a time jump so it can reunite viewers with Sidney, her husband Mark (Patrick Dempsey), and their kids. The new Ghostface will target Sidney and her family, which would makeScream 7one of the riskiest and potentially tragic movies in the franchise, as it’s a lot more personal than previous movies and Sidney’s kids would still be quite young – and yet, I think it’s a much better idea than the original one with Sam and Tara.
Scream 7’s Rumored Time Jump Plot Ruins Sidney’s Return (& Makes Sam & Tara’s Absence Worse)
Scream 7 is now rumored to include a time jump to fit Sidney and her family, making her return and Sam and Tara’s absence even worse.
Details about the original plan forScream 7have reportedly leaked, but as always, they should be taken with a grain of salt. The details come fromBeyond The Mask(viaCinemaBlend), who spoke to an insider and Christopher Landon. According to them, as Ortega already had a busy schedule, Tara would have died inScream 7, which would have directly impacted Sam’s story. Unable to cope with grief,Sam would have struggled against her dark side more than ever, quite possibly finally giving in to it – andgetting her to embrace her dark side would have been part of the new Ghostface’s mission.
I’m glad Barrera and Ortega are not involved inScream 7anymore, as this story would have been terrible for the reboot trilogy.
The identity of the Ghostface killer(s) in Landon’s version is still unknown (and will mostly likely continue to be), but the original version ofScream 7would have finally introduced Sam and Tara’s mother, who was absent in the previous movies. Of course, none of this can work now without Barrera and Ortega, and although I already miss them, I’m glad they’re not involved inScream 7anymore, as this story would have been terrible for the reboot trilogy.
Tara’s Death & Sam Becoming A Villain Would Have Ruined The Scream Reboot Trilogy
Sam & Tara Were The Final Girls Of The Scream Reboot Trilogy
SinceScream2022, Sam had been struggling with the visions of Billy pushing her to continue his legacy and that dark side that could have easily taken over her when confronting the Ghostface killers. InScream 6, Sam and the rest found Detective Bailey’s (Dermot Mulroney) Ghostface shrine in an abandoned theater, and Sam was drawn to the costume and knife used by Billy. Atthe end ofScream 6, Sam was shown to have taken Billy’s mask with her from the shrine but decided to drop it before joining Tara and Danny (Josh Segarra).
Tara’s death would have been controversial – if anything, she should have died in the first movie.
This made it clear thatSam was not interested in following her father’s steps and was ready to move onwith Tara and Danny, which is whyScream 7’s original idea would have been awful. First off, Tara’s death would have been controversial – if anything, she should have died in the first movie, which would have been a huge motivation for Sam to catch the Ghostface killers. Killing off a character because its actor is unavailable is an old and tiring trick, andScream 7could have done something a lot better to honor Tara’s place as Final Girlthan killing her.
The presence of their mother would have added extra family drama that would have madeScream 7feel too crowded.
Even worse, I feel, is using Tara’s death for Sam’s plot. Sam once again fighting against her dark side and Billy’s legacy would have been too tiring and at the same time predictable, and the presence of her mother would have added extra family drama that would have madeScream 7feel too crowded.TheScreamreboot trilogy is already shaking afterScream 6, which wasn’t as well-received by critics and fans as the previous movie, and the original plan would have only sunk the trilogy even deeper by killing one of its Final Girls and turning the other into a villain.
Scream 7 Still Has To Address Sam & Tara’s Absence
Scream 7 Has A Big Challenge With Sam & Tara’s Absence
My biggest concern about how the movie will manage Sam and Tara’s absence is that it will decide that they died betweenScream 6and7.
AlthoughScream 7will no longer focus on Sam and Tara and will instead be all about Sidney and her family, it still has to address Sam and Tara’s absence. Looking at how bad the original plan forScream 7was, my biggest concern about how the movie will manage Sam and Tara’s absence is that it will decide that they died betweenScream 6and7.I don’t think it’s outside the realm of possibility that Sam and Tara could be the first killsof the new Ghostface, though kills that happened off-screen, and they are the ones that kick off the rest of the movie.
After everything they went through inScream2022 andScream 6, I feel the best way to explain Sam and Tara’s absence is by giving them an ending like that of Sidney inScream 6: they moved to a safe place, where they can move on without worrying about being chased by a serial killer again. The big problem thatScream 7won’t be able to fix is the many questions that remain about Sam and Tara, especially about their family, and without them inScream 7, there’s no way these can be answered organically.
Source:Beyond the Mask(viaCinemaBlend).
Scream
Created by Kevin Williamson and originally helmed by Wes Craven, the Scream franchise takes a meta approach to the slasher horror franchise, centering on teenagers well-versed in the genre who find themselves hunted and killed by figures donning the Ghostface mask. The first four movies revolved around Neve Campbell’s Sydney Prescott as she frequently found herself the target of different Ghostface killers, while the fifth and sixth installments introduced new protagonists, sisters Tara and Sam, with their own dark past connected to the original Ghostface killer.
