By Chad W. Shreeves

The Scream franchise has positioned itself as one of the premiere names in the slasher genre, with six titles to its name and a mixed-received TV spinoff. The past couple years audiences were treated to two very well received sequels in Scream and Scream VI.

Based on a report in Variety, After choosing to sit out Scream VI due to a contract dispute, franchise star Neve Campbell made it official earlier today that she will indeed be returning to the franchise for the seventh installment. This will mark her fifth time playing Sydney Bristow in one of the defining roles in 90s horror.

Campbell will also be joined by franchise co-creator Kevin Williamson who has boarded the project as a director. Williamson is known for co-writing the original Scream film with director Wes Craven as well as the scripts for Scream 2 and Scream 4. Guy Busick, who wrote Scream V and Scream VI will be taking over writing duties.

After last year’s massive success of the sixth installment, a seventh was all but certain. Unfortunately the entire film was almost derailed. When the star of this new generation Melissa Barrera was abruptly fired for her pro-Palestine comments amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, co-star Jenna Ortega quickly left as well. Ortega left as a show of support for Barrera as well as the ongoing actor’s strike delaying the filming of Wednesday season 2. Then hired director Christopher Landon also exited the film which threw the entire possibility of a new film into doubt. Owners Spyglass Media have been reported to have reached out to Barrera and Ortega to try and bring them back, which both reportedly declined.

No word yet on if other stars, like Campbell’s co-star Courtney Cox, have been brought on to the film.

With the return of Neve Campbell, it appears the seventh movie is back on track. No release date or filming dates have been set yet, signaling the film is still early in development.