Woodsboro’s favorite deputy sheriff is back in town: David Arquette will officially reprise his role as Dewey Riley from the first five “ Scream ” movies in the upcoming seventh installment of the horror franchise. It’s not yet clear exactly how this is possible, as Dewey was vicously stabbed to death in the fifth film, “Scream” (2022), by Ghostface (later revealed to be Mikey Madison’s Amber Freeman). But he isn’t the only miraculous resurrection in the “Scream” universe: Scott Foley and Matthew Lillard are also set to revive their now-deceased characters in Spyglass and Paramount Pictures’ “ Scream 7.” Familiar faces Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown are also set to star, alongside “Scream” newcomers Mckenna Grace, Celeste O’Connor, Joel McHale, Asa Germann, Sam Rechner, Anna Camp, Mark Consuelos and Ethan Embry. Cox previously expressed hope that filmmakers could find a way to bring Dewey (who was married to her character Gale Weathers) back from the dead: “I understand the reasons they did it, but whoa! Talk about a missed character,” she said. “Dewey is so loved by ‘Scream’ fans. They have to figure it out.”

Arquette, whose character Dewey Riley was murdered in 2022's fifth installment, will return for 2026's Scream 7, Deadline reported on Tuesday, March 4. This comes after news that Scott Foley (who played Roman Bridger) and Matthew Lillard (who played Stu Macher) will also be back for the seventh film despite their characters also having been killed off. Scream 7 is being directed by Kevin Williamson, who wrote the original 1996 Scream slasher. Neve Campbell is returning to the franchise after sitting out the sixth film, and other cast members include Courteney Cox, Mason Gooding, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Isabel May, Celeste O’Connor, Mckenna Grace, Anna Camp, Joel McHale and Mark Consuelos. Scream 7 Director Honors Late Wes Craven as Sequel Begins Filming: He 'Was on My Mind Through It All' David Arquette in "Scream" (2022). Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Arquette, 53, previously discussed uncertainty over whether he'd reprise the fan-favorite character during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen in July 2024. When asked by a fan if there was potential to see Dewey "in some form," like a flashback sequence, the actor responded, "I don't think so — I mean, I don't know!" David Arquette is returning to the 'Scream' franchise after his character Dewey Riley was killed in 2022's fifth installment. Franchise alums Scott Foley and Matthew Lillard are also set to return for 2026's 'Scream 7.'

After confirming the franchise returns of Scott Foley and Matthew Lillard, whose characters both died in previous installments over the years, Scream 7 is now also bringing back David Arquette, Entertainment Weekly has learned. Deadline Hollywood first reported the news. Arquette was a longtime Scream regular, having first appeared as Deputy Dewey Riley in the 1996 original opposite Neve Campbell (Sidney Prescott) and Courteney Cox (Gale Weathers). Dewey sadly met an untimely end at the end of Ghostface's knife in 2022's Scream. Newly minted Anora Oscar winner Mikey Madison played the particular stab-happy killer who did the honors. Tyler Gillett, one of the filmmakers of the fifth Scream with Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, called reading about Dewey's death in the script "f---ing gut-wrenching." He told EW at the time, "It was like, we loved it, and we hated it, and it was brutal, and we also knew that we had to make a choice like that in this movie." Ghostface in 'Scream VI'. Want more movie news? Sign up for Entertainment Weekly 's free newsletter to get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews, and more. "I think there was some nerves about it," Bettinelli-Olpin added. "I don't think it was wholly embraced, you know, by David, or by us, for sure. The film, currently in production, is scheduled to hit theaters Feb. 27, 2026. 'Scream 7' is bringing David Arquette, who played Dewey Riley, back from the dead. The actor is confirmed to join the cast alongside Neve Campbell and Courteney Cox.

It's been officially announced that actor David Arquette is attached to return as Dewey in the upcoming film Scream 7. The Scream film franchise is set to deliver its seventh installment early next year. Production is currently underway on Scream 7, which led to the news that franchise actors Matthew Lillard and Scott Foley would be returning for the project. Now it’s been shared that actor David Arquette, who played Dewey Riley in the first five installments of the series, will also be returning for Scream 7. The surprising element to this announcement is that David Arquette’s character was killed off during 2022’s Scream, the fifth film in the franchise. In fact, Matthew Lillard and Scott Foley were also killed off, with the two playing separate Ghostfaces in the original Scream and Scream 3, respectively. While we’ve already known that Lillard and Foley were returning for some time now, it’s worth noting that Arquette is portraying the first returning dead character that happened to be a victim rather than a killer. As shared via Deadline where the news was revealed: “The trio played characters who died in the franchise and are returning in a surprise way. Details regarding how his character comes back and the film’s plot are currently under wraps.” Of course, Dewey has been a more notable character in that he appeared in all five original Scream installments. Neve Campbell and Courteney Cox were the two characters alongside Dewey that managed to appear with him, though Cox was the only one to return for Scream VI.

Big news has been revealed for Scream 7. After the character's fate in 2022's Scream, it's now been revealed that Dewey will return in the upcoming sequel. Per Deadline, David Arquette is set to reprise his role as Dewey Riley in Scream 7. One of the original stars of the franchise, Arquette had appeared as Dewey up until the character's death in the 2022 film. This will also be one of several returning franchise stars coming back to play dead characters, though the others who've been revealed all notably played Ghostface killers: Matthew Lillard (Stu Macher), Scott Foley (Roman Bridger), and Skeet Ulrich (Billy Loomis). The audience was expecting Dempsey to reprise his role as Detective Mark Kincaid. How the deceased characters will play into the plot of Scream 7 remains to be seen, but seeing them all in one film together should be exciting for franchise fans. Arquette's ex-wife, Courteney Cox, who is returning as Gale Weathers, had also campaigned for Arquette to return. Even before it was announced that other dead characters would be popping up in Scream 7, Cox said that the filmmakers needed to somehow figure out a way to get Dewey to come back for the next movie. "I understand the reasons they did it, but whoa! Talk about a missed character," Cox told Variety last year. "Dewey is so loved by Scream fans. They have to figure it out." A beloved Scream franchise star just found out he didn't get a part in Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey after coming very close. Neve Campbell is returning as Sidney Prescott, and she'll be taking center stage once again after her limited appearance in 2022's Scream.

Arquette joins fellow franchise alumni Matthew Lillard and Scott Foley, despite all three actors playing characters who are canonically dead. David Arquette in Paramount Pictures "Scream." Photo: Paramount Pictures. David Arquette will be back as Dewey Riley ‘Scream 7.’ He is returning in a “surprise” way. Original writer Kevin Williamson is directing. From the sounds of it, legacy will be a heavy theme in ‘ Scream 7.’ Not that the more recent outings of the franchise haven’t carried that, featuring younger relatives of some of the classic characters. The seventh installment in the 'Scream' franchise. Plot TBA. Read the Plot But the new entry in the franchise, currently being shot by original writer Kevin Williamson in Georgia, has yet another link to the past, with Deadline reporting that David Arquette is back. Arquette, of course starred as fan-favorite Deputy Dewey Riley, who first appears in the franchise’s original ‘ Scream ’ film as the older brother of Tatum Riley (Rose McGowan) and the clumsy police deputy trying to help solve the murders in their town of Woodsboro focused on Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell). Tatum was the fifth victim of the Woodsboro Murders serial killers, which affected Dewey immensely. Dewey, who also appeared in the other three original ‘Scream’ movies, eventually got his happy ever after, marrying Courteney Cox ’s Gale Weathers, though the pair were revealed to have divorced in the years leading up to 2022’s ‘ Scream ’ reboot, which continued the story. (L to R) David Arquette and Courteney Cox in Paramount Pictures "Scream."

Is David Arquette set to return in Scream 7? The upcoming sequel Scream 7 is bringing back another familiar face: David Arquette's Dewey Riley, who makes his return after the character died in the fifth movie. Deadline reports Scream 7 will mark the return of Arquette's character. He is the latest dead character to return in the upcoming sequel. Scream 7 will mark the returns of several characters, including Stu Macher (Matthew Lillard), Roman Bridger (Scott Foley), and Dewey Riley (David Arquette). How they will factor into the plot of the movie is unclear — Deadline notes the trio of characters are “returning in a surprise way.” This is an interesting development for Scream 7. Previously, Arquette told ClutchPoints that he was content with the death of Dewey Riley. He explained that the death was so associated with the late Wes Craven, saying it “paralleled” with his character's demise. “I mean, it is sad. I really enjoyed playing that role,” he said. “I've come to the place where I think there was an element of the Dewey character that was very much part of Wes, part of Wes's sense of humor, and part of Wes's sweetness. “And I think the fact that we had lost Wes right before that film [Scream, 2022] was also part of the loss of Dewey. He was such an important person in my life and such an amazing man.

David Arquette will reprise his role as deputy Dewey Riley in “Scream 7” from from Spyglass and Paramount Pictures, according to an insider with knowledge of the project. Plot details about Dewey’s return, who apprently died in the fifth film at the hands of Ghostface killer Amber Freeman, is currently being kept under wraps. Freeman was played by newly-minted Oscar winner Mikey Madison. Arquette has played Dewey Riley in the first five films of the “Scream” franchise. Arquette joins a cast which includes Matthew Lillard, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Mason Gooding, and new cast members Isabel May, Celeste O’Connor, Asa Germann, Mckenna Grace, Sam Rechner and Anna Camp. “Scream 3” alum Scott Foley also recently joined the cast. The seventh installment of the classic franchise will be released on Feb. 27, 2026. Created by Kevin Williamson alongside the late Wes Craven, “Scream” became one of the defining horror series of the 1990s for its satire of slasher film tropes. Williamson is directing with Guy Busick writing (after “Scream 5” and “VI” co-director Matt Bettinelli-Olpin’s exit). Project X Entertainment’s James Vanderbilt, William Sherak and Paul Neinstein are producing. After the release of “Scream 4” in 2011, the series remained dormant for over a decade until it was brought back to life in 2022 by Paramount and Spyglass with a fifth installment that saw newcomers Melissa Barrera, Jack Quaid, Mikey Madison and Jenna Ortega join Campbell, Courteney Cox and fellow longtime series stars David Arquette.

David Arquette will be returning for Scream 7, joining several other characters who are seemingly back from the dead. Spyglass and Paramount Pictures have assembled quite the cast for Scream 7, including a few blasts from the past who are somehow returning from the dead. Deadline reports that the latest addition to Scream 7 is David Arquette, who will be returning as Deputy Dewey Riley. Along with Neve Campbell and Courteney Cox, Arquette was a member of the original cast who appeared in every Scream movie until he was surprisingly killed off in the fifth movie. It remains to be seen how Arquette will factor into the new movie, but he won’t be the only character coming back from the dead. Matthew Lillard will be returning as Stuart ‘Stu’ Macher from the first Scream movie, and Scott Foley will be back as Roman Bridger from Scream 3. After sitting out the last movie due to a pay dispute, Neve Campbell returns to star as Sidney Prescott. Courteney Cox is also back as Gale Weathers. The rest of the cast includes Isabel May (Yellowstone: 1883) as Sidney’s teenage daughter, with Celeste O’Connor (Madame Web), Mckenna Grace (Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire), Sam Rechner (The Fabelmans), Asa Germaan (Gen V), Anna Camp (True Blood), and Mark Consuelos (Riverdale) also signing on. It was originally believed that Patrick Dempsey might be returning as Mark Kincaid from Scream 3, but he had to pass due to the Los Angeles wildfires and scheduling issues. Joel McHale (Community) has since signed on to play Mark Evans, Sidney’s husband. The original plan for Scream 7 would have seen Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega returning as Sam and Tara Carpenter, but Spyglass Media fired Barrera after a few pro-Palestinian social media posts that they deemed anti-Semitic.

David Arquette is reviving his role as Dewey Riley in the upcoming horror sequel. Dewey's potential return via a flashback scene could provide new insight into the plot of Scream 7. While not every past Scream character is going to appear in Scream 7, it does feel like the majority of the horror franchise's actors are coming back. I was just as surprised as other fans to learn that Matthew Lillard and Scott Foley are playing Stu Macher and Roman Bridger again. But it's not only Ghostfaces who are back in action. David Arquette is reprising his role of Dewey Riley, which is exciting news since the deputy is one of the kindest and most beloved legacy characters. Although I wondered if Gale could see Dewey's ghost in Scream 7, I have another idea for Dewey's appearance in the upcoming horror sequel. I would cheer him on no matter what, but I think this storyline would be the most practical. When thinking about how Dewey Riley could come back in Scream 7, I'm reflecting on his Scream (2022) death, which I think was a problem. But while no one can change the fact that Ghostface killed Dewey at the hospital where Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega) was recovering, I have an idea: what if Dewey appears in a flashback scene and reveals a big secret? Since Scream 7 is bringing back so many characters, it's hard to know how this is going to work. David Arquette is playing Deputy Dewey Riley again in Scream 7, and the beloved character was killed by Ghostface in Scream (2022).