Rose McGowan Says ‘Scream 7’ Tribute to Dead Character Feels “Right”

Gone but not forgotten! Sidney Prescott’s best friend Tatum Riley met her bloody demise in Scream (1996) after an unfortunate incident with a garage door, but the next installment in the popular horror franchise is paying tribute to the character in a truly special way.

On Oct. 30, the first trailer for Scream 7 confirmed that Sidney (Neve Campbell) has never stopped remembering her plucky pal who always had her back. She even named her eldest daughter (Isabel May) after her — and Rose McGowan couldn’t be more pleased! During a November sit-down with Scream Obsessed, the Charmed star, 52, said hearing the news made her “heart happy.”

“And I know it’s made many others happy,” she added. “It feels right and good. Tatum lives.”

McGowan also revealed that what initially drew her to the movie and the possibility of playing the role of Tatum was, well, just about everything about it.

“The first thing that made me want to bring Tatum Riley to life was the entire script. It was just moments of genius on every single page and I had not seen anything like it, and honestly, since [then] really, at that level, and it was just perfect … When Tatum is like, being fully Tatum with the ‘Please don’t kill me, Mr. Ghostface … I wanna be in the sequel.’ I was like, ‘Oh, I can do that. Let’s go.'”

Watch the trailer for Scream 7 below.

‘Scream 7’ Goes Back to Basics With Sidney-Focused Plot

While McGowan isn’t expected to make an actual appearance in the highly-anticipated horror sequel, Scream 7 will be turning the full focus back on Sidney. After declining to appear in Scream 6 due to a pay dispute, Campbell, 52, told Entertainment Tonight last year that she “jumped” back “on board” for the next installment as soon as the concept was pitched to her.

“I love these movies, they are so much fun to be a part of, I’m so grateful for them, I could never have imagined being a part of a movie that would have lasted this many decades … The fandom is nuts, they are incredible and very passionate about these films. I’m excited to give them a new one!”

Earlier this year, she also revealed that when fans see Sidney this time around, she’ll be in a “very good place” — at least, at first. “Sidney’s happy. She’s a mom, she has a family, she feels safe and really tried to put her past behind her,” she explained in an October interview with ET. Also returning to the franchise are Courteny Cox as reporter Gale Weathers, David Arquette as late deputy-turned-sheriff Dewey Riley, and Matthew Lillard as one of the supposedly-dead original Ghostface killers, Stu Macher, and franchise newbies Jasmin Savoy Brown and Mason Gooding as Mindy and Chad Meeks-Martin. Cast members making their Scream debut include Mckenna Grace, Joel McHale, Anna Camp, Ethan Embry, and Mark Conseulos.Catch Scream 7 in theaters on Feb. 27, 2026.