Highlights
- Scream 7 will have a significant time jump with the return of iconic characters.
- Scream 7 must avoid more time jumps to keep the story coherent and connected to another potential sequel.
- Setting up a direct sequel in the closing stages of Scream 7 could maintain connection and credibility.
Scream 7 is edging closer to going into production, with the direction of the upcoming sequel set to embrace the legacy of the franchise, with the return of Neve Campbell as the iconic final girl, Sidney Prescott. The sequel is also likely to see the return of Courteney Cox as Gale Weathers, and Patrick Dempsey as Mark Kincaid. Scream 7 is set for a significant time jump of at least five years, which has some fans concerned. If the movie is successful, and another sequel is announced, the events of Scream 8 should take place very soon after the events of Scream 7, to avoid more time jumps, and to keep the current story flowing coherently.
If Scream 7 is set five years after Scream 6’s ending, it’ll be 2028 in the franchise timeline, but the movie will probably be released in 2025. If Scream 8 was announced, it wouldn’t work if there was another big time jump. However, it would also be quite jarring if the movie was set in the actual time that passes between the release of Scream 7 and its sequel, which will most likely be one to two years. If the events of Scream 8 took place immediately after the ending of Scream 7, the timeline would be able to catch up with itself to the present day.
Why is there set to be a time jump in Scream 7?
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Scream 7 |
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Starring |
Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox (rumored), Patrick Dempsey (rumored) |
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Written By |
Guy Busick |
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Directed By |
Kevin Williamson |
The initial plan for Scream 7 was to complete Sam and Tara Carpenter’s story, but everything changed when Melissa Barrera was fired, and Jenna Ortega also exited the project. Guy Busick began rewriting the script for Scream 7, and it was announced that Neve Campbell had signed on to play Sidney Prescott, after she skipped Scream 6 due to a pay dispute with Spyglass Media.
It emerged that Sidney’s family would form the basis of Scream 7′s story, with a rumored time jump of five years in order to age Sidney’s two eldest daughters to their teenage years, to allow them to play a bigger part in the Ghostface killings. Some fans don’t want a Scream 7 time jump as it goes against the real time passage of time in the previous six movies. Having said that, it would be impossible to involve Sidney’s daughters in the story, if they were still young children. There is now a strong chance Sidney will mentor new final girls in Scream 7, if her teenage daughters are under threat from a new iteration of Ghostface, and this could raise the stake significantly, justifying the time jump.
If another sequel is announced, it would make sense to directly follow the events of Scream 7
If the rumors are true, it looks like Scream 7 will feature a time jump, heaping pressure on Kevin Williamson to execute it effectively in order to keep the fans on side. One way of achieving this, would be to set up the inevitable sequel to Scream 7 in the closing stages of the movie, and follow on immediately after it. This would avoid any further time jumps in Scream 8, and bring the events closer to the actual real life passage of time. It would also work well to have a continuation of the story set up in Scream 7, with a Ghostface surviving to change the format.
Also, if another one or two years pass by in the timeline, before Scream 8 is released, it would really start to stretch the credibility that another separate attack would take place. There is a theory that has been doing the rounds for a while now, that there could be a cult of Ghostface killers targeting Sidney and her family, and this could be the focus of Scream 7 and its sequel.
Halloween (2018) and Halloween Kills were both set on the same night, and it worked well in order to connect the two movies together, despite them being released three years apart. Scream 7 and Scream 8 should do the same thing, to maintain the connective tissue in the series, and it would also soften the impact of the time jump. Rumors have suggested Scream 7 could be the start of a new trilogy, and if this is the case, all three movies should be set close together.
A Scream movie set immediately after the events of the previous entry would also be different from previous sequels, and it would keep things fresh and interesting moving forward. There is a fan movement to bring Stu Macher back, and that could also be the focus of Scream 7 and its potential sequel, as it adopts a more serialized plot. It would also make sense to give the franchise a chance to catch up with the current real life timeline, so it can effectively provide horror commentary that links to the current state of the genre.
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