Billy’s ‘Scream’ return was originally a trilogy turning Sam into Ghostface (exclusive)

Brace yourself because it could become scream Fans…well, scream!

In a new conversation with Entertainment Weekly For five nights at freddys 2Skeet Ulrich sheds light on his original plan scream The character, serial killer Billy Loomis, preceded the major creative change that saw the story of Melissa Barrera’s Sam Carpenter revert to Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott for the franchise’s seventh film.

When asked if it was a spoiler to ask Ulrich if he would return as Billy Loomis scream 7 (in theaters Feb. 27), he says, “I’ve been vocal about it. I’m not. When we talked about coming back for 5, it was a three-picture arc for Billy Loomis to slowly turn his daughter into a killer. Obviously, given some of the things that happened, those things didn’t come out. But, no, I don’t know anything about the seventh.”

Ulrich’s Billy Loomis died in the original scream As one half of Matthew Lillard’s Ghostface Killers with Stu Macher in 1996. However, when Radio Silence filmmaking duo Tyler Gillette and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin took over the directing reins for the fifth scream (2022) and scream vi (2023), Billy returns as a ghost to guide his daughter, Barrera’s Sam Carpenter, the actual protagonist of the two films.

The “things that happen” that Ulrich is referring to are things like scream Fans already know well: Gillette and Bettinelli-Olpin are gone scream 7 Due to scheduling with another project (Vampire Ballerina flick) Abigail), Barrera was fired from the production over social media posts related to the Israel–Gaza conflict, and then costar Jenna Ortega and new scream 7 Director Christopher Landon was announced shortly afterward.

The direction of the seventh installment soon took a new path. Kevin Williamson, original screamThe screenwriter returned to direct another film with The Return of scream Queen herself, Campbell, who sat out the sixth installment due to salary. scream 7 Now there’s a story about Sydney’s family, including daughter Tatum (Isabel May) and policeman husband Mark (Joel McHale), who are terrorized by a new Ghostface.

Ulrich has said in the past that he hasn’t read any scripts, but his comments may still surprise. Even though Sam is becoming scream 7 The Killer remains a popular fan theory as to what could have been, with very little being stated definitively on the record.

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“It would be my dream for Sam to be Ghostface,” Barrera told Flickering Myth in 2023. The same year, she told Digital Spy, “She’s a hero but she’s also kind of a villain. I find that contradiction of her fascinating.”

The director himself often alluded to Sam’s inner darkness when hinting at where he could take the franchise next.

Gillette told Comic Book Resources in 2022, “Sydney has inherited this thing from her mother, whether right or wrong. She’s paying the price for something that happened in the past and that’s always an interesting idea for us.” So many ways, and her connection to Billy is an interesting world for us to explore.”