This will be the first film in the series that's directed by Kevin Williamson, who wrote Scream (1996), Scream 2 (1997), and Scream 4 (2011).
Courteney Cox, who plays Gale Weathers, is the only person to appear in all the films in the series.
Neve Campbell will reprise her role as Sidney Prescott in this film. She was absent from the previous installment Scream VI (2023) due to a pay dispute. Not returning are directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, who wanted to take a break from the franchise, while Melissa Barrera as Sam Carpenter was fired from the production after sharing comments revealing she did not support the ongoing Israeli genocide of the Palestinian people. In response, Jenna Ortega also decided to leave, originally citing a scheduling dispute with season 2 of Wednesday (2022). She later revealed that with the directors and Barrera gone, the project was "falling apart", and staying "didn't seem like the right move."
Both Scream (2022) and Scream VI (2023) mention Sidney Prescott has a husband named Mark, which was widely presumed to be Det. Mark Kincaid, played by Patrick Dempsey in Scream 3 (2000). Dempsey had even stated in a Today interview he was in discussions to return for the seventh film and was waiting for the script. In January 2025, it was announced that Sidney's husband would be a new character, Mark Evans, played by Joel McHale. Dempsey told Variety that scheduling conflicts and the California wildfires near his Malibu home prevented him from returning.