‘Scream 7’ Has a Plot Hole The Slasher Franchise’s Fans Can’t Ignore

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The new movie, Scream 7, is coming to theaters soon, but a recent change might create a major storyline problem for the entire series – even bigger than anything Ghostface has done. Getting Scream 7 made hasn’t been easy. After star Melissa Barrera was let go, the movie had to be largely rewritten with a new team behind it. To appeal to longtime fans and recapture the feel of the first Scream films, some original cast members are returning, including Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott, who didn’t appear in Scream VI due to a disagreement over salary.

The next Scream movie will feature a new group of teenage characters for Ghostface to target. It appears the idea of focusing on a group of older characters didn’t resonate with the target audience. A key figure in the story is Tatum Evans, played by Isabel May, who is Sidney Prescott’s daughter. Like many recent sequels to established franchises, the film centers on the child of one of the original main characters. However, there’s a potential issue with this approach.

Sidney Presccot Having a 17-Year-Old Daughter in ‘Scream 7’ Contradicts ‘Scream 4’


Paramount Pictures

Okay, so as a longtime fan of the Scream movies, I’m a little puzzled by this new development. The upcoming Scream 7 is introducing us to Tatum, the daughter of Sidney and Mark Evans (played by Joel McHale). Now, Mark is a police officer – not the other Mark, Patrick Dempsey’s character from Scream 3 – and naming her Tatum is a sweet nod to Rose McGowan’s character in the original. But here’s the thing: the timeline doesn’t quite add up. If you consider when the first Scream happened and how much time has passed in the story, Sidney having a teenage daughter now feels…off. It creates a bit of a plot hole that I’m hoping they’ll address, because it’s distracting from what should be an exciting new chapter.

If the next Scream movie is set in 2026 and Tatum is 17, she would have been born in 2009. This creates a timeline issue with Scream 4, which takes place in 2011 – two years after Tatum’s supposed birth. The movie doesn’t mention Sidney Prescott having a daughter, which is strange, and no other character ever brings up a child either. This is especially noticeable in the finale of Scream 4, where Sidney nearly dies and ends up in the hospital.

The sudden appearance of Sidney Prescott having a teenage daughter feels like a change to established story details. In the 2022 Scream film (set in 2021), she’s shown with a stroller and mentions taking “the girls to school,” suggesting she has at least three children – a baby and two school-aged kids. This creates a timeline issue because it doesn’t explain how she could also have a 17-year-old daughter in Scream 7 without contradicting events from Scream 4.

There are a couple of ways the filmmakers could explain this inconsistency. They could reveal that Sidney adopted Tatum after the events of Scream 4, or they could set Scream 7 a few years in the future—perhaps 2028 or 2029—allowing time for Tatum to be born. While these explanations are possible, they feel unnecessarily complicated. Ultimately, this issue stems from one main decision: the removal of Melissa Barrera from the cast of Scream 7.

How Firing Melissa Barrera Has Plagued ‘Scream 7’


Paramount Pictures

The 2022 film Scream introduced Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera), the daughter of the original killer Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich), and set her and her sister Tara (Jenna Ortega) up as the new main characters for the series. While Neve Campbell returned for that film, she didn’t appear in Scream VI because of a salary dispute. Ultimately, her character wasn’t needed in the newer film, as the point of these ‘legacy sequels’ is to focus on a new generation of heroes.

The next installment of the Scream franchise, Scream 7, was originally going to continue the storyline of Sam and Tara Carpenter, with the previous film suggesting Sam would struggle with violent tendencies. However, those plans changed in November 2022 when actress Melissa Barrera was fired by Spyglass Media. This decision stemmed from social media posts where she described Gaza as a “concentration camp” and criticized Israel’s actions in the Gaza war, using terms like “genocide and ethnic cleansing.” While Spyglass leadership labeled the posts antisemitic, many others disagreed with the firing and have since protested Scream 7.

The dismissal of Melissa Barrera created a series of issues for Scream 7. Immediately afterward, it was announced that Jenna Ortega wouldn’t be returning for the film. Initially, this was attributed to conflicts with the filming schedule for Wednesday Season 2, but Ortega later revealed she disagreed with the new direction of the Scream franchise, suggesting she supported Barrera. Following this, Christopher Landon, who was set to direct, also left the project. Ultimately, Kevin Williamson, a key writer for the Scream movies, took over as director.

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The studio is now focused on regaining fan support after canceling previous plans and losing two key actors who were intended to lead the franchise. Without Neve Campbell returning as Sidney Prescott, Scream 7 would have struggled to attract audiences. Interestingly, other popular actors like Matthew Lillard, David Arquette, and Scott Foley are returning, even though their characters were previously killed off.

Let’s talk about Tatum, the new lead they’ve introduced. Bringing Sidney back meant they needed a fresh face to potentially carry the franchise forward, and that’s where Tatum comes in. Honestly, though, it feels a little…familiar. We just saw this play out with Sidney’s niece, Jill, in Scream 4, and the last film centered around a legacy character’s child. What’s worse, making Tatum Sidney’s daughter actually creates a pretty glaring timeline issue – it feels rushed and not well thought out. It’s a sloppy addition that doesn’t quite land.

The recent changes in the creative team are concerning, echoing the difficult production of Scream 3 and the rushed feeling of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. These issues could have been avoided by keeping Melissa Barrera and following the original plan. Alternatively, bringing back Sidney Prescott without giving her a daughter could have worked. The Scream movies don’t need to rely on killing teenagers to be effective. If Scream 7 continues that trope, it risks repeating the clichés the series originally satirized.

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2026-02-23 18:36