Summary

• Scream 7 would have seen a dark turn for Sam and Tara's story, which would have ruined the reboot trilogy.
• Neve Campbell's return to Scream 7 brings a new storyline with Sidney Prescott and her family.
• The absence of Sam and Tara in Scream 7 raises concerns about how the film will address their fate.

The Scream franchise seized these trends and made a big comeback in 2022 with a fifth movie simply titled Scream, marking the beginning of a reboot trilogy. Scream 7 is now in development, but it had to go through major changes due to different issues.

Scream 7 was supposed to continue the stories of the reboot trilogy’s Final Girls, sisters Sam (Barrera) and Tara Carpenter (Ortega), but Barrera’s exit, Ortega dropping out due to scheduling conflicts, and director Christopher Landon also leaving forced production to change its plans. Scream 7 is now being directed by franchise creator Kevin Williamson and will have Neve Campbell back as Sidney Prescott, as well as a completely new story. Now, details about Scream 7’s original story may have been revealed, but they only make me happy that version is no longer happening.

Scream 7’s Original Plan Would Have Seen Tara’s Death & Sam’s Dark Turn

Scream 7 Would Have Seen A Huge Change In Sam

Sam and Tara made their debut in Scream 2022, as they became the targets of the new Ghostface killers along with their friends. Sam was revealed to have a direct connection to the original Woodsboro murders as she’s the daughter of Billy Loomis, and she had hallucinations of her father telling her to give in to her dark side. Sam and Tara survived the Ghostface murders of Scream 2022 and Scream 6, and as there are a lot of questions to answer about their past, they were supposed to return in Scream 7, but that’s no longer the case.

As Ortega already had a busy schedule, Tara would have died in Scream 7, which would have directly impacted Sam’s story.

Plot details of Scream 7 haven’t been confirmed, but there have been many rumors and “leaks” that say it will have a time jump so it can reunite viewers with Sidney, her husband Mark (Patrick Dempsey), and their kids. The new Ghostface will target Sidney and her family, which would make Scream 7 one of the riskiest and potentially tragic movies in the franchise, as it’s a lot more personal than previous movies and Sidney’s kids would still be quite young – and yet, I think it’s a much better idea than the original one with Sam and Tara.

Details about the original plan for Scream 7 have reportedly leaked, but as always, they should be taken with a grain of salt. The details come from Beyond The Mask (via CinemaBlend), who spoke to an insider and Christopher Landon. According to them, as Ortega already had a busy schedule, Tara would have died in Scream 7, which would have directly impacted Sam’s story. Unable to cope with grief, Sam would have struggled against her dark side more than ever, quite possibly finally giving in to it – and getting her to embrace her dark side would have been part of the new Ghostface’s mission.

I’m glad Barrera and Ortega are not involved in Scream 7 anymore, as this story would have been terrible for the reboot trilogy.

The identity of the Ghostface killer(s) in Landon’s version is still unknown (and will mostly likely continue to be), but the original version of Scream 7 would have finally introduced Sam and Tara’s mother, who was absent in the previous movies. Of course, none of this can work now without Barrera and Ortega, and although I already miss them, I’m glad they’re not involved in Scream 7 anymore, as this story would have been terrible for the reboot trilogy.

Tara’s Death & Sam Becoming A Villain Would Have Ruined The Scream Reboot Trilogy

Sam & Tara Were The Final Girls Of The Scream Reboot Trilogy

Since Scream 2022, Sam had been struggling with the visions of Billy pushing her to continue his legacy and that dark side that could have easily taken over her when confronting the Ghostface killers. In Scream 6, Sam and the rest found Detective Bailey’s (Dermot Mulroney) Ghostface shrine in an abandoned theater, and Sam was drawn to the costume and knife used by Billy. At the end of Scream 6, Sam was shown to have taken Billy’s mask with her from the shrine but decided to drop it before ing Tara and Danny (Josh Segarra).

Tara’s death would have been controversial – if anything, she should have died in the first movie.

This made it clear that Sam was not interested in following her father’s steps and was ready to move on with Tara and Danny, which is why Scream 7’s original idea would have been awful. First off, Tara’s death would have been controversial – if anything, she should have died in the first movie, which would have been a huge motivation for Sam to catch the Ghostface killers. Killing off a character because its actor is unavailable is an old and tiring trick, and Scream 7 could have done something a lot better to honor Tara’s place as Final Girl than killing her.

The presence of their mother would have added extra family drama that would have made Scream 7 feel too crowded.

Even worse, I feel, is using Tara’s death for Sam’s plot. Sam once again fighting against her dark side and Billy’s legacy would have been too tiring and at the same time predictable, and the presence of her mother would have added extra family drama that would have made Scream 7 feel too crowded. The Scream reboot trilogy is already shaking after Scream 6, which wasn’t as well-received by critics and fans as the previous movie, and the original plan would have only sunk the trilogy even deeper by killing one of its Final Girls and turning the other into a villain.

Scream 7 Still Has To Address Sam & Tara’s Absence

Scream 7 Has A Big Challenge With Sam & Tara’s Absence

My biggest concern about how the movie will manage Sam and Tara’s absence is that it will decide that they died between Scream 6 and 7.

Although Scream 7 will no longer focus on Sam and Tara and will instead be all about Sidney and her family, it still has to address Sam and Tara’s absence. Looking at how bad the original plan for Scream 7 was, my biggest concern about how the movie will manage Sam and Tara’s absence is that it will decide that they died between Scream 6 and 7. I don’t think it’s outside the realm of possibility that Sam and Tara could be the first kills of the new Ghostface, though kills that happened off-screen, and they are the ones that kick off the rest of the movie.

After everything they went through in Scream 2022 and Scream 6, I feel the best way to explain Sam and Tara’s absence is by giving them an ending like that of Sidney in Scream 6: they moved to a safe place, where they can move on without worrying about being chased by a serial killer again. The big problem that Scream 7 won’t be able to fix is the many questions that remain about Sam and Tara, especially about their family, and without them in Scream 7, there’s no way these can be answered organically.

Source: Beyond the Mask (via CinemaBlend).