Was Sam Carpenter supposed to be the new Ghostface killer? Filmmakers Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett shed some light.

A Scream 7 to ‘f--- you up’: Former directors Radio Silence tease (and clarify) their loose ideas for sequel (exclusive)

Was Sam Carpenter supposed to be the new Ghostface killer? Filmmakers Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett shed some light.

By Nick Romano

Nick Romano is a senior editor at ** with 15 years of journalism experience covering entertainment. His work previously appeared in *Vanity Fair*, Vulture, IGN, and more.

EW's editorial guidelines

February 27, 2026 4:19 p.m. ET

Ghostface in 'Scream 7'. Credit:

Jessica Miglio/ Paramount Pictures

- Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, who were going to direct *Scream 7*, share their loose ideas for the sequel they would've made.

- "[If] *Scream VI* is like a secret feel-good movie, *Scream 7*'s going to f--- you up."

- The duo, known as Radio Silence, also responds to Skeet Ulrich's past comments about how Sam would've eventually become the new Ghostface.

As *Scream 7* opens in theaters this weekend, we're starting to learn more about what the original plan for the latest sequel would've entailed.

Radio Silence, the directing duo of Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, shares new details about their outlook on the seventh slasher-whodunnit before leaving the film altogether — mainly clarifying how far they actually got into planning.

"We never read a draft of any version of *Scream 7* that we were going to do because we had left to do *Abigail* before that," Bettinelli-Olpin tells EW in a new interview in support of *Ready or Not: Here I Come*, referring to their 2024 vampire ballerina movie. "The thing that we had in our minds for *Scream 7* was sort of like, 'How hard can we go with this?' It was the thing that we talked a lot about. For us, it was always this idea of, [if] *Scream VI* is like a secret feel-good movie, *Scream 7*'s going to f--- you up. That was as much as we ever got to."

"Given that we expanded the sort of scope of the story by going to New York," Gillet adds, "the other thing that we had talked about — just Matt and I, by the way, it wasn't a conversation with the writers — was, 'How do you do the opposite for *7*?' Like, shrink it down and make it this like ultra-contained, almost continuous, like minute-to-minute thing. But outside of our own stupid idea, we weren't privy to any plan beyond just, 'There's gonna be another one.'"

Melissa Barrera (Sam Carpenter) and Jenna Ortega (Tara Carpenter) in 'Scream VI'.

Philippe Boss/PARAMOUNT PICTURES

Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett left the franchise after directing 2022's *Scream* and 2023's *Scream VI*, which starred Melissa Barrera as Sam Carpenter, the secret love child of late Ghostface killer Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich). They originally planned to at least complete a new trilogy with fellow leads Jenna Ortega as Tara Carpenter, Jasmin Savoy Brown as Mindy Meeks-Martin, and Mason Gooding as Chad Meeks-Martin, but scheduling had them instead going off to make *Abigail*, which ended up starring Barrera.

While Radio Silence retains executive producer titles on *Scream 7*, they previously clarified to EW that it was more of a vanity credit and that they were no longer involved.

'Scream 7' premiere draws pro-Palestine protesters, Melissa Barrera seemingly responds

'Scream 7' star Isabel May on playing Neve Campbell's daughter and carving path through Hollywood

"We have a ton of love and respect for the team," Gillett said in 2024. "They gave us that title as, I think, a thank you for being such an instrumental part in bringing that franchise back to audiences, but that is as far as our engagement goes."

Christopher Landon (*Happy Death Day*, *Drop*) then stepped in to take the directing reins, but he, too, parted ways with the film after production company Spyglass fired Barrera in 2023. Her comments on the Israel-Hamas war were deemed "antisemitic" in a statement from Spyglass Productions and led to her dismissal from the seventh movie. However, Barrera later clarified her comments and denounced antisemitism.

Melissa Barrera as Sam Carpenter in 'Scream VI'.

Everett Collection

***Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our EW Dispatch newsletter.***

Ortega also departed, saying the sequel was "falling apart." As a result, the studio and production company tapped Kevin Williamson, the original screenwriter of the *Scream* movies, to write and direct a new *Scream 7*. He centered it around Neve Campbell's Sidney Evans (maiden name Prescott) and the Ghostface killer targeting her now-teenaged daughter, Tatum (Isabel May). That movie is playing in theaters now.

Late last year, Ulrich, also speaking with EW, shared some brow-raising information about the original *Scream 7* plan. "When we talked about coming back for *5*, it was a three-picture arc for Billy Loomis to slowly turn his daughter into the killer," he said. "Obviously, those things didn't pan out, given certain things that happened."

When asked about those comments now, Bettinelli-Olpin remarked, "We love Skeet, and I don't know what he did or didn't read."**

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW Slasher”