Scream 6 Movie Ending – Is It The End For Ghostface Or The Start Of Scream 7

Instead the big reveal is that rather than one Ghostface, or even two, there are three. Also as a shock, their motive feels like something out of 4chan’s grotesque fever dreams: They’re the family of Ritchie (Jack Quaid’s psycho killer from the last movie) and they want revenge on Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera) for killing their precious boy—and they started it by spreading QAnon lies about her.

It got me. Expectations were subverted and it led to a pretty gratifying applause line when Ortega kills Ritchie’s young brother and hisses, “Now fucking die a virgin.” It’s a bigger spectacle than the ending of the last several Scream movies. But I’m not convinced it’s better.

The twist of the last movie where Ritchie and Amber (Mikey Madison) killed all these people because they wanted to rewrite the plot of their favorite franchise had a delicious, thinly veiled commentary about toxic fandom in a post-The Last Jedi world. The film before that, Scream 4, also worked as a cutting satire about influencer culture before that was a phrase, with Jill Roberts (played by Julia Roberts’ niece, Emma Roberts) doing it all to amass social media clout and play the victim. Prophetic.

Scream 6 returns a bit to the ‘90s Scream sequels’ more soapy plot lines. Once again, the last movie’s killer came from a nutter family that is carrying on his good work. It’s out of left field, almost unpredictable, and crazy enough to allow Sam to don her father’s costume and voice box. Finally, Ghostface gets to be the good guy. It’s subversive but could it be pushing the story to its breaking point?

The delicate magic of Scream movies is that they’re always self-analyzing and critiquing their own choices, aware the series is walking a knife’s edge between clever and smug, funny and self-parody. The last installment written by the first film’s mastermind, Kevin Williamson, was Scream 4, and that film even began by imagining how the movies-within-the-movies, the Stab franchise, descended into meta-masturbation by the time of Stab 7.

Six movies in, the actual Scream movies have avoided that fate. For now. New blood creatives Radio Silence even gave the series back its edge, with the set pieces of Scream 5 and especially 6 being the first genuinely tense ones since the second movie. But perhaps they’ve done their job too well for me. I don’t want to see the “Core Four” butchered anymore than Dewey and Gale. That of course could be the root of great horror, but Scream has gone there as well. Twice. Recall that before Dewey’s bittersweet death in Scream 5, Randy Meeks was also “core four” in Scream 2.

Will there be a Scream 7?

There is yet to be any official confirmation that Scream 7 is in development at Paramount, but directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett – who helmed both the 2022 film and this latest entry – are interested in seeing more.

“We hope,” said Bettinelli-Olpin on the topic of further movies (via Deadline). “We want to be watching Scream movies whether we’re involved or not for the rest of our lives.”

Gillett reportedly agreed that the franchise is designed to continue, adding: “We’re so happy it’s back.”

The duo, whose previous work includes horror-thriller Ready or Not, have certainly earned the approval of even die-hard Scream fans with the two entries produced so far.

Here’s hoping they can be tempted back for another round, if the opportunity arises.

Paramount Pictures will no doubt be watching the box office performance of Scream VI very closely, with the future of the franchise likely to be decided by whether it can turn a healthy profit. Watch this space.

When could a potential Scream 7 be released?

If Paramount does decide to push on with a seventh Scream movie, it could potentially arrive in cinemas very soon.

After all, there is little more than a year separating 2022’s soft reboot (or ‘requel’) from Scream VI, so a similar production cycle could see the film launch in time for spring 2024.

Who could be in the cast of a potential Scream 7?

Each and every one of the returning Scream cast members made it through the sixth entry in one piece, meaning all of them could potentially reprise their roles in a sequel.

It’s likely the focus would again be on the so-called ‘core four’, comprised of sisters Sam and Tara Carpenter (played by Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega) and twins Chad and Mindy Meeks (played by Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown).

However, we could also see more from Hayden Panettiere’s fan-favourite FBI agent Kirby Reed as well as Courteney Cox’s tough reporter Gale Weathers, both of whom narrowly avoided death in the latest instalment.

It’s less certain whether original star Neve Campbell would return as Sidney Prescott, after the actor turned down Scream VI over a pay dispute.

Sidney is referenced in the movie – confirmed to be alive and well – but her return would rest on Campbell and Paramount reaching a salary agreement. At this stage, there’s no way of knowing if that will happen.

Of course, no Scream movie would be complete without Roger L Jackson as the sinister voice of Ghostface, so expect to hear him down the other end of the phone in any future films.

Scream VI also featured a brief reference to Matthew Lillard’s character Stu Macher – one of the killers in the first film – which alluded to the possibility of him still being alive (as has long been speculated by fans).

When quizzed on the idea, co-director Gillett told Entertainment Tonight: “Anything’s possible… We brought back Billy as a hallucination.”

Indeed, actor Skeet Ulrich has appeared in both 2022’s Scream and Scream VI as a figment of Sam Carpenter’s imagination, encouraging her to live up to her killing potential as his daughter.

Scream 7 plot theories

Scream VI paid close attention to the troubled mind of Sam Carpenter, exploring the strange urge she feels to don the Ghostface costume and become a murderer herself, just as her father did decades earlier.

In the closing moments of the film, she drops a Ghostface mask at the scene of the final stand-off – having worn it during her fight with Detective Wayne Bailey (Dermot Mulroney) – potentially meaning she’s leaving those frightening thoughts behind.

However, if not herself, the discarding of the mask could provoke another twisted individual to take up the mantle – thus setting in motion another entry in the franchise.

If all of the current survivors return, it could add some real dramatic heft to Scream 7, with fans now emotionally attached to both the newer faces and the remaining legacy characters. We don’t want to see any of them go!

Is there a trailer for Scream 7?

Sadly, nothing yet. We’ll update this page if any new footage is released.