Scream 7’s Rumored Sidney Story Gives The Franchise Its Darkest Ghostface Twist (& I Don’t Like It)

Scream 7‘s rumored plot details reveal Ghostface’s new targets in addition to Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), and if true, they would be giving the franchise an unnecessary dark turn. The Scream reboot trilogy is preparing for its closing chapter, Scream 7, which has already gone through some major shake-ups before production even begins. After Melissa Barrera’s firing, Jenna Ortega dropping out due to salary disputes, and director Christopher Landon also leaving, Scream 7 was finally set into motion with franchise creator Kevin Williamson as director and Neve Campbell returning to lead the film after skipping Scream 6.

With the reboot’s Final Girls, Sam (Barrera) and Tara (Ortega), now gone, Scream 7 will focus on Sidney, though exactly what Scream 7’s story will be remains a mystery, along with the characters who will join her. Courteney Cox is in talks to return as Gale Weathers, making her the only character to appear in all Scream movies, and Patrick Dempsey is rumored to also be in talks to reprise his Scream 3 role as Mark Kincaid. Now, rumored plot details for Scream 7 not only confirm Dempsey’s return but also hint at the franchise taking an unnecessary dark turn.

Scream 7 Will Reportedly See Ghostface Targeting Sidney’s Family

Sidney, Mark, & Their Children Might Be In Danger This Time

According to insiders (via Collider), Scream 7 will see the new Ghostface(s) targeting Sidney’s family: her, Mark, and two kids, though the reboot movies established that they have three kids. Despite not returning in Scream 6, the reboot movies gave enough information about Sidney’s life. At some point between Scream 4 and Scream 2022, Sidney and Mark reconciled and got married. Sidney and Mark met in Scream 3 when he, a detective, was assigned to the case of the Ghostface murders in Los Angeles. At the end of Scream 3, Sidney and Mark were shown together, beginning a relationship.

However, in Scream 4, Mark didn’t return and Sidney was revealed to be single, but in Scream 2022, she was married and with children, one of which was in a stroller. It was later revealed that her husband is Mark, and during the events of Scream 6, Sidney and her family went to a safe place, far away from New York and the new Ghostface murders. Now, Sidney’s eldest children are noted as grade-school age in late 2021, so her oldest child would be 12 years or younger if Scream 7 is released in 2025.

By targeting her family, Scream 7 is going back to the franchise’s roots, which it also did in Scream 4 but with a twist. The Ghostface killings started with the murder of Sidney’s mother, Maureen, a year before the events of Scream, and Billy and Stu planned on framing Sidney’s father for the Woodsboro murders. In Scream 4, Sidney’s family, specifically her cousin, Jill (Emma Roberts), seemed to be a target, but Jill turned out to be one of the Ghostface murderers and the mastermind behind that specific spree (which included the death of her own mother).

Ghostface Going After Children Is An Unnecessarily Dark Turn For Scream

Ghostface Has Never Targeted Children In The Scream Saga

While Ghostface going after Sidney’s family in Scream 7 feels familiar and even feels somewhat fitting to close the franchise, it gives the saga an unnecessary dark turn by including Sidney’s children. None of the previous Ghostface killers have targeted children before, with Sidney, Randy, and Tatum being 17/18 during the first Woodsboro murders, as were Kirby (Hayden Panettiere) and her friends in Scream 4. Slasher killers rarely target children in horror movies, and even iconic killers like Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees have never crossed that line.

Ghostface now targeting children, no matter who their parents are and their connection to the killers, feels unnecessary in a franchise that has never done that before and feels like a desperate attempt to regain the audience’s attention. Surely, there’s a possibility that Scream 7 could have a time jump in order for Sidney’s children to be older, thus avoiding the controversy of Ghostface going after children, but it still feels like a bad idea for the saga.

Scream 7 Family Plot Makes Sidney’s Return A Lot Worse

Scream 7 Is Already Undoing Sidney’s Happy Ending

Scream has already given Sidney a happy ending three times, and it has undone them on three occasions. As mentioned above, Sidney and Mark were together at the end of Scream 3, but Scream 4 undid this by revealing Sidney was single. Scream 4 was the supposed end of the saga, thus finally giving Sidney some peace, only to bring her back in Scream 2022. In Scream 6, Gale mentioned Sidney deserved her happy ending, and she truly does, but Scream 7 is about to mess with what’s most important to her.

Ghostface targeting Sidney’s family in Scream 7 also means there’s a high risk that one of them won’t make it to the end of the movie. Killing children is too dark for the Scream saga, so if not Sidney, Mark could become a Ghostface murder victim, adding more tragedy to Sidney’s story. There’s a chance that Scream 7 will be completely different, but if these rumored details are true, the franchise is facing a huge risk.

Source: Collider.