The horror genre is showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon, as its renaissance continues through new and returning properties. Some of the best horror movies returned to theaters as a result of this trend, including Wes Craven’s Scream. The original films were written by Kevin Williamson, who is an executive producer in the last two movies from Radio Silence. And he recently got honest about theories claiming Matthew Lillard’s Stu Macher was still alive.
Stu was one of the two Ghostface killers from the original 1996 Scream movie, offering a truly iconic performance that oscillated between hilarious and creepy. While Neve Campbell’s Sidney killed him in the final battle by crushing his head with a TV set. But fans have long been hoping he’d somehow return, possibly in the new movies being produced by Paramount and Spyglass Media Group. Kevin Williamson reacted to this rumor in an interview with Collider, saying frankly:
No, he’s dead. I think that started because of the college scene, the frat party scene because he’s standing in the background. He just came to visit set that night.
Well, there you have it. Kevin Williamson represents both the past and present of the Scream franchise, so he’s definitely the right person to clear up any lingering rumors about Stu Macher still being alive in-universe. But the character is often still referenced, with the 2022 Scream movie even having its final confrontation in his house. What’s more, Lillard and other franchise alumni were able to have brief, subtle cameos in the last movie– honoring Wes Craven in the process.
Kevin Williamson’s comments to Collider shut down the rumor that Stu is alive, and also gives some context as to how the fan theory got started back in the day. It turns out it all comes down to eagle-eyed fans who spotted him in the background of a Scream 2 scene. But Stu is going to stay dead, despite the many calls for Matthew Lillard to reprise his role.
The calls for Matthew Lillard to return to Scream obviously come as a result of the recent fifth movie, and the upcoming release of Scream VI. On top of the trio of original Scream heroes, fans were delighted to see the return of Skeet Ulrich as Billy Loomis. While he remained dead like Stu, new protagonist Sam (Melissa Barrera) has visions of a young Billy ala the original movie. And this macguffin is expected to be used again in the next slasher. As a reminder, you can check out the first trailer for that movie below:
Pretty chilling, right? Not all that much is known about the contents of Scream VI, but it will make history as the first movie without Neve Campbell’s final girl Sidney Prescott. But the change of settings from Woodsboro to New York City looks like it’s going to raise the stakes of Ghostface sequences in an intriguing way. We’ll just have to wait and see which of the two sets of siblings that survived the last movie end up making it out alive. They’ll be joined by familiar faces like Courteney Cox’s Gale Weathers and Scream 4’s Hayden Panettiere as Kirby Reed.
Scream VI is currently expected to arrive in theaters on March 10th. In the meantime, check out the 2023 movie release dates to plan your trips to the theater in the New Year.
