A $190 million horror franchise in desperate need of a relaunch just got forced back in its grave a while longer thanks to ‘Scream 7’

Horror lovers have finally received the news they’d been eagerly awaiting since March with the announcement that, yes, Scream 7 is happening. It was hardly in doubt that the genre’s most persistently popular franchise was going to get to round out its current trilogy, but it’s still exciting for it be official. Even if the news means that we will have to wait even longer for hopes of a cult favorite slasher series getting the chance to reach number three.

The big surprise to do with the Scream 7 announcement is that Radio Silence filmmakers Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett will not be returning to conclude the trilogy they began with 2022’s Scream. Instead, Christopher Landon is stepping into their shoes. The choice could not be a better one as, apart from coming up through the Paranormal Activity movies, Landon’s four prior horror-comedy movies mark him out as the perfect person to steer the good ship Scream next.

The downside is, though, that we can practically kiss goodbye any hopes of seeing another Happy Death Day film materialize anytime soon. Before he helmed Netflix’s recent We Have a Ghost and the body-swap slasher Freaky, Landon brought us 2017’s Happy Death Day and 2019’s Happy Death Day 2U, a unique blend of a Groundhog Day-style time loop scenario and a Scream-esque whodunnit slasher mystery.

While HDD was a big hit for Blumhouse, unfortunately 2U failed to make as much of a splash so plans for a third film were halted, despite Landon writing a treatment for the third chapter alongside making the second. Nevertheless, Landon, producer Jason Blum, and star Jessica Rothe have routinely maintained their interest in continuing the story of Tree Gelbman ever since. But clearly if Landon is joining Scream, potentially even for multiple movies, then there’s no immediate plans for this to happen.

Happy Death Day is all about its protagonist coming back from the dead over and over, so there’s still hope for the franchise yet. For now, however, its loss is the Scream saga’s gain.