If you told me David Arquette was going to be in a Scream movie a few years ago, I’d say “Duh! He’s Deputy Dewey Riley!” But in 2022’s Scream, the beloved character from the horror franchise was brutally killed off by now-Oscar winner Mikey Madison when she played a version of Ghostface (alongside Jack Quaid). A new report has just pointed to Arquette returning to Woodsboro once again.
While I’m happy to hear my favorite Scream character is back, I have so many questions about one of the most highly-anticipated upcoming horror movies.
I Was Heartbroken Scream Killed Off Dewey, So Thank Goodness He’s Back
To start on the brighter side of things, when I read Deadline’s report that David Arquette is back with Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and company for the next Scream movie, coming out in 2026, I was excited. When Dewey died in the 2022 movie movie in a decade, I was disappointed that the franchise decided to kill off such a great character whose legacy goes back to the original movie.
It was a brutal kill that had Dewey suffering two knife stabs, one in the front of his body and the other at the back. Dewey’s heartbreaking death was not only shocking, it became the reason that Gale and Sidney really came together in the third act to get Ghostface. Arquette has said that he loved how “they handled” his death even though he was sad to go.
That being said, Scream 6 just wasn’t the same without Dewey. I’m not surprised that the filmmakers are reportedly bringing him back – along with Matthew Lillard’s Stu (who was one of the first Ghostface killers) and Scott Foley (who played Sidney’s brother Roman Bridger, who was also Ghostface), but how is this going to work?
But, How Exactly Is Scream 7 Going To Pull This Off?
While I’m all for Dewey coming back into the fold for the next Scream movie, I just can’t imagine a logical way the franchise is going to bring him back. There are only three conclusions I can come to regarding all these dead characters coming back.
Perhaps, there will be some weird supernatural plotline where the new Ghostface brings back characters from the icon’s history back from the dead? Another thought is Dewey and company could come back in dreams and hallucinations perhaps set off by the new Ghostface? Or maybe the movie will take place in the past, prior to Dewey’s death. (But, given the daughter of Neve Campbell’s Sidney has been cast, I think my third theory is probably unlikely.)
While the plot is being kept under wraps for Scream 7, we do know it has been written by the writers of the last two Scream movies and will be directed by the writer of the original, Kevin Williamson. I trust they have something good cooking under Ghostface’s hood, and I’m very excited to know Dewey will be back, but I’m scared we could be in for either the goofiest or twistiest Scream movie yet.
