Courteney Cox is officially back as Gale Weathers for Scream 7

Some fierce weathers are blowing into town.

After a swirling hurricane of rumors and speculation, Courteney Cox is officially returning to the Scream franchise. Cox will reprise her iconic role as the investigative journalist–turned–true crime author Gale Weathers in the upcoming seventh Scream film. The official Scream franchise account confirmed the news in Instagram stories with a share of Variety's report.

Representatives for Cox did not immediately respond to Entertainment Weekly's request for comment.

Cox appeared in last year's Scream VI, which was notable as the first film in the series to not feature fellow franchise star Neve Campbell. Cox and Campbell were the last two veterans of Wes Craven's 1996 original unless you count Roger L. Jackson, who has voiced the Ghostface killer throughout the series. Cox will now be the only actor to appear in all seven installments in the franchise.

Campbell made the "very difficult decision" to sit out the sixth film in 2022. In a statement shared at the time, the actress cited "the offer that was presented me" as the motivating factor in her decision, as it "did not equate to the value I have brought to the franchise."

Further shakeups came to Woodsboro when Melissa Barrera, who starred in the fifth and sixth installments in the franchise, was fired in Nov. 2023 after voicing support for the people of Palestine in the wake of Israel's ongoing military actions in Gaza. The day after the news of Barrera's firing broke, Jenna Ortega, who also appeared in Scream and Scream VI as Barrera's sister, quit the franchise.

The intended director for Scream VII, Christopher Landon, also exited the film the following month, calling it "a dream job that turned into a nightmare."

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Months of uncertainty over the fate of the franchise followed, with the tide finally beginning to turn this March, when Campbell announced she would be returning after all, with original scriptwriter Kevin Williamson making his Scream directorial debut. The Yellowstone universe's Isabel May was later announced as the daughter of Campbell's character Sidney Prescott, and then Patrick Dempsey was said to be in talks to reprise the role Kincaid, which he debuted in Scream 3.

No plot details of the upcoming Scream film are known. But if Cox gets her wish, which she has repeatedly made known, David Arquette will make his return as Dewey Riley. Arquette played Cox's romantic opposite in five Scream films (and was married to her for 15 years). The couple divorced in 2013, and Dewey was killed at the end of the fifth Scream.

"It was sad, because Dewey is such a beloved character and he's so goofy, and I thought he brought such a comedic twist to the whole franchise," Cox said in March, adding, "I think that was really — that was a downer."

Scream 7 is set to hit theaters on Feb. 27, 2026.