Summary
- Patrick Dempsey won’t return to the Scream franchise due to scheduling conflicts and recent events.
- Some original actors from the earlier Scream films are reuniting, but Dempsey’s return won’t happen.
- Fan theories suggest ways to continue Mark Kincaid’s story in Scream 7 despite Dempsey’s absence.
One Scream star has expressed interest in joining the franchise again. He previously teased about his return, but it was rumored to no longer be happening, and the celebrity just confirmed it.
Several original actors from the first Scream movie are returning in the upcoming film, including Neve Campbell and Matthew Lillard. Scott Foley—who plays Roman Bridger, the Ghostface in Scream 3—has also signed on. Another actor from the third movie was set to reunite with the others in Scream 7, but recent events made it impossible for him to commit to the project.
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Patrick Dempsey made his debut in the slasher franchise in 2000’s Scream 3. He portrayed Detective Mark Kincaid, a homicide detective investigating the murders associated with the Stab 3 production, a slasher movie within the Scream universe. In the film, he gets to know Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott, and a romantic connection is implied between the two. Mark has been subtly mentioned in the fifth and sixth movies. In Scream 5, it is mentioned that Sidney is married to a man named Mark, and many immediately conclude that it is Mark Kincaid. However, it was later announced that Sidney’s husband was a different Mark as Joel McHale would portray him. Dempsey’s inability to film Scream 7 could be the reason behind the alteration. Dempsey confirmed that he was set to return to Scream 7, but he couldn’t make it, explaining to Variety:
It just didn’t work out and we were dealing with the fires and everything that was going on and the schedule didn’t work out, unfortunately.
Dempsey lives in Malibu and is among those affected by the devastaing wildfires in California. In October 2024, the Grey’s Anatomy alum spoke about a potential return to the next Scream movie. He was asked in an interview with Today if he could return to the franchise and fight Ghostface. “I’m waiting on the script,” Dempsey said. “There has been a conversation about it, I haven’t seen anything yet. So, we’ll see what happens.” When Al Roker asked to confirm if he was open to returning to the franchise, the Thanksgiving star gave an affirmative response, saying, “Yeah, I mean you know, it’s always good to have a job.”
It’s possible that the Mark that Sidney married was planned to be Dempsey’s Mark Kincaid. However, since he can’t make it, the production decided to alter Mark’s background. As expected, the change left many fans disappointed because continuing Sidney and Mark Kincaid’s relationship from Scream 3 by making them a married couple in Scream 7 made more sense than introducing a whole new Mark into the franchise.
In a thread on Reddit, one user suggested how to capitalize on Dempsey not returning to Scream 7 while mirroring the original movie. The poster indicated that Sidney and Mark Kincaid could have ended up together—making him the father of her daughters—but that he got killed in the line of duty. Another suggested a similar plot but a different ending — that they were together but got divorced, explaining why Sidney is with another Mark. The suggestions make sense because, in a way, it still ties with Dempsey’s character, who the production seems to have been teasing in previous films to still be part of the franchise. This way, Dempsey could still return to the Scream franchise somewhere down the line if it is at all possible.
Scream 7 will hit theaters on February 27, 2026.
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Source: Variety