While it's still rather early days in the 2026 movie schedule, it's no secret that Ghostface's return to theaters recently was a big success, and it sounds like Paramount and Spyglass are wasting no time. Reportedly, Scream 8 is already in the works, and notably, the names being tapped to write the script seem to indicate the franchise could go into a new and interesting direction.
The big quote in Scream is "Do you like scary movies?" Of course, but per Deadline's report that Lilla and Nora Zuckerman are working on the Scream 8 script, it seems the question might be "Do you like whodunnits?"
See, the Zuckerman sisters are best known for being the showrunners on the Peacock mystery show Poker Face. I have to wonder if the hire means the franchise hopes to be more of a whodunnit dressed in a Ghostface mask, and you know what? I dig that.
Aside from Poker Face, which Peacock sadly pulled the plug on (but it could come back at some point with Peter Dinklage as the lead), the Zuckerman sisters have worked on a few other notable TV shows. They were producers on Haven, Suits, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D and Prodigal Son. Interestingly enough, none of those are horror projects. Perhaps, their closest dip into it was as producers on Buffy The Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale – you know, Hulu's Buffy show that was recently cancelled.
Another interesting development here is that the report does not include the producers of the last three Scream movies, James Vanderbilt & Guy Busick. I should note that those guys' production company, Radio Silence, currently has its hands wrapped up in The Mummy 4, starring Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz, set to be released in 2028. Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, who directed the 2022 and 2023 Scream installments, will helm the action-adventure sequel.
Now, I'm tentatively on board with the Zuckerman sisters hiring because I think it does feel like it's time for Scream to have a new angle. The last installment made a lot of money ($204 million worldwide against a $45 million production budget), but it also earned the lowest Rotten Tomatoes score of the franchise with a 31%.
CinemaBlend's own Scream 7 review gave the movie a terrifying 1.5 out of 5 stars, saying that the movie had him "solving half of the plot in the second act" and the only reason he didn't was "because it is complete nonsense". I wonder if feedback like this had the franchise going to writers proven to write a good mystery?
I don't think Scream would have been around for 30 years if it weren't for the whodunnit quality of the first one, so here's hoping the Zuckermans can revive some of that in Scream 8 with their hiring. There's no release date set, but we'll keep you updated as we learn more.
