Matthew Lillard to return for Scream 7

Original Scream star Matthew Lillard is set to reprise his role in the upcoming seventh film.

The Scooby-Doo actor, who played Stu Macher in the 1996 original, is set to reunite with co-stars Neve Campbell and Courteney Cox after almost 30 years.

However, there is a big question mark over the nature of his return as he was believed to be killed off at the end of the horror classic.

Stu was revealed to be one of the Ghostface killers trying to murder Campbell's Sidney Prescott. He was stabbed repeatedly before she dropped a giant TV on his face, leaving many assuming he was dead.

Lillard's Scream 7 casting has made fans wonder if Stu survived the events of the first film. Jasmin Savoy Brown's character Mindy previously theorised in Scream VI that he could still be alive.

Reacting to the casting news on Instagram, Lillard simply posting a video in which he wrote out one of Stu's last lines on a piece of paper: "My mom and dad are gonna be so mad at me!!"

Fans have also speculated that Lillard could be playing Stu's twin or playing his original character in a flashback or hallucination.

This could also be the explanation for Scott Foley, who was also confirmed to return for Scream 7 despite his character Roman Bridger being unmasked as Ghostface and subsequently killed in Scream 3.

They join returning stars Brown and Mason Gooding plus newcomers Anna Camp, Joel McHale, Mark Consuelos, Mckenna Grace and Celeste O'Connor.

Production is currently underway on the slasher, which is set for a release in February 2026.