Scream 7 had an alternate ending that revealed Stu was actually alive

13 March 2026, 15:29

By Katie Louise Smith

"I’d be lying if I said we didn’t shoot it both ways."

Every Scream fan remembers where they were when it was announced that Matthew Lillard would be returning as the iconic Stu Macher, one of the OG Ghostfaces.

Back in January 2025, Matthew confirmed his return to the franchise with a cryptic Instagram post but details of how he would be included in Scream 7 were kept strictly under wraps.

Some people thought he may reappear as a hallucination, much like Skeet Ulrich's Billy Loomis in Scream 5 and 6, others thought they were finally about to address the long-standing theory that Stu was actually still alive.

Now Scream 7 is here, we finally have answers... but did you know they actually filmed an alternative ending that could have changed everything?

• Read more: Skeet Ulrich thought Matthew Lillard was "ruining" Scream before he realised it was meant to be funny

WARNING: Spoilers ahead for Scream 7!

Scream 7 opens with a tease that Stu Macher may still be alive, with the opening scene featuring two Stab fans who visit Stu's old house in Woodsbro after hearing rumours that he survived being killed by Sidney Prescott.

Later in the film, Sidney gets a call from a brand new Ghostface who then appears on her phone screen as an aged, scarred and seemingly real Stu. However, all is not what it seems...

Scream 7 actually includes a deepfake storyline in which the new Ghostface killers, driven by nostalgia for the original murders, manage to bring several previous Ghostfaces 'back to life'. Stu is part of this storyline as well as Mrs. Loomis from Scream 2 and Roman Bridger from Scream 3. (Oh, and they deepfake Dewey, too. RIP King!)

While Stu is definitely still dead in Scream 7, director and co-writer Kevin Williamson has now revealed that they actually filmed an ending where he was very much alive.

In an interview with Esquire, Kevin revealed that an alternative ending was filmed but the reaction from the test audiences ultimately prompted them to scrap it.

Explaining the AI/deepfake plot line and the return of all those iconic Ghostface characters, Kevin revealed he initially had concerns about Stu being included.

"The first time I read it I was like, 'How is this going to work? How is he going to be alive?' Furthermore, if it is AI, will part of the audience be disappointed that he’s not real? We were playing that game."

Confirming the alternative ending in which Stu was actually still alive, he added: "And I’d be lying if I said we didn’t shoot it both ways."

"We shot a little coda at the end that we had in our back pocket," he continued. "But oddly enough, the decision was that the audience wanted him dead."

"It makes more sense. It’s more real. If he’s alive, that’s a big stretch. We live in a world now where with fake AI, we know that’s possible."

Kevin then went on to praise Matthew Lillard, who he calls "the calmest, sweetest, most humble, lovely human being you’ve ever met".

"Then he just turns it on and becomes the most impulsive of a live wire onscreen. I don’t think he’s been truly tapped to the extent of what he’s capable of," he said. "He’s very necessary. We need him in more movies."

AMEN!

Read more about Scream here:

• Skeet Ulrich reveals original Scream 7 ending before Melissa Barrera was fired
• Jenna Ortega explains real reason why she quit Scream franchise
• Melissa Barrera wants to star in Scary Movie 6 following Scream 7 firing
• Patrick Dempsey confirms he was talks with Scream 7 to return as Mark Kincaid
• Matthew Lillard says Stu survived and was originally the killer in Scream 3

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