Matthew Lillard thinks the Scream franchise is in a "good place," but that the movies got "too violent": "I don't think Ghostface ever needs a shotgun"

OG Scream star Matthew Lillard isn't too worried about the current state of the franchise.

"I think it's in a good place. I think that [the movie being] back in the hands of Kevin Williams is great. I love what [Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin] were doing before. nothing against them. In fact, I thought they were taking a really exciting way," Lillard tells GamesRadar+.

"I thought the movie got too violent. I think 6 was, like... I don't think Ghostface ever needs a shotgun. I think that the movies are – everything is trying to repeat what we did in the first movie in a lot of ways. Like, a maniacal monologue at the end. It's really hard to do. I hope that Kevin takes it in a brand new, brave, and exciting direction so that we can sort of find different colors and different joys."

Lillard starred as Stu Macher in Wes Craven's 1996 slasher Scream, who is revealed at the end of the movie to be one of two people running around Woodsboro in a mask – the other being Stu's best friend Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich). In the OG film, Stu and Billy use knives as weapons, which makes the killings a bit more personal and gruesome. In Scream 6, Ghostface ditched the knife in favor of a shotgun, which Gillett and Bettinelli-Olpin said was to make the audience "raise [their] eyebrows." 

Williamson, who wrote the screenplay for the original film, is now set to direct the franchise's seventh installment. Lillard recently revealed" on the Drew Barrymore that Stu is, in fact, alive and therefore could make an appearance in the new film – but we'll believe it when we see it.

Scream 7 is set to hit theaters on February 6, 2026. For more, check out our list of the most exciting upcoming movies in 2024 and beyond.