Scream 7 is a 2026 American slasher film directed by Kevin Williamson, who wrote the original Scream (1996), and the seventh instalment in the horror franchise. Neve Campbell returns as Sidney Prescott, now living in the fictional town of Pine Grove, Indiana, with her husband Mark Evans (Joel McHale) and their children. Having attempted to leave the Ghostface murders behind her, Sidney is forced to confront her past when a new killer begins targeting her teenage daughter Tatum (Isabel May), named after Sidney’s friend who was murdered in the original film. Courteney Cox returns as journalist Gale Weathers, alongside Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding, Anna Camp, Mckenna Grace, Ethan Embry and several other new and returning cast members. The film was written by Williamson and Guy Busick, from a story by Busick and James Vanderbilt.
Scream 7 (2026) was filmed primarily in the Atlanta metropolitan area of Georgia, including Dallas, Smyrna, Marietta, Douglasville and Atlanta itself. Principal photography began on 7 January 2025 and concluded in March, with the production operating under the working title Scar Tissue. Much of the fictional town of Pine Grove was created in downtown Dallas, where existing businesses, streets and public buildings were adapted for the film. Additional locations included a private residence in Atlanta, the historic Brawner Hall in Smyrna, Jennie T. Anderson Theatre in Marietta and the former television facilities now operated by the Savannah College of Art and Design. Interior filming also took place at Great Point Studios in Douglasville.
The film opens with a return to Stu Macher’s house in Woodsboro, California, the location of the final confrontation in Scream (1996). The property has been transformed into a horror-themed holiday rental, where visitors can spend the night surrounded by memorabilia associated with the original Ghostface murders. When a young couple arrives to experience the notorious house, they discover that the attraction is more dangerous than expected. The opening sequence ends with Ghostface setting the building on fire. Although the house is based on the original location at 3871 Tomales Road near Tomales, California, the production did not use that property for the new film. Instead, a reproduction was constructed for the sequence, allowing the filmmakers to destroy the building without damaging the historic filming location. The recreation was based on the recognisable farmhouse seen in the first film, including its exterior appearance and interior arrangement.
Sidney’s new family home was represented by a residential property at 1024 Club Commons Circle NE in Atlanta. The house stands in an established neighbourhood in the northern part of the city, far from the small-town streets of Dallas used for central Pine Grove. It provides the identifiable exterior of the Evans family residence, where Sidney lives with Mark and their children. The house becomes one of the film’s principal locations as Ghostface begins threatening the family directly. In one sequence, Tatum is attacked inside the house, forcing Sidney to guide her towards safety while Mark attempts to intervene. The property also provides the setting for the final confrontation, when the surviving characters return home and the killers reveal their identities. The suburban exterior was combined with controlled interior filming to create the extensive house sequences.
The centre of Pine Grove was largely recreated in Dallas, a small city approximately 30 miles northwest of central Atlanta. The production used Main Street, Courthouse Square and the surrounding historic commercial district, temporarily changing shop signs, installing decorations and adding fictional civic details to transform the Georgia city into a town in Indiana. The area appears throughout the film as Sidney and her daughter move between local businesses, the police station and the streets where Ghostface later pursues his victims. The production also introduced signs identifying the central public space as Craven Plaza, a tribute to Wes Craven, who directed the first four Scream films. The name appears on decorations around the square, with the existing courthouse and commercial buildings providing the surrounding architecture.
One of the principal buildings in Dallas was the Dallas Theater and Civic Center at 121 East Griffin Street. The historic theatre building, originally established as the Strand Theatre in 1927 and substantially rebuilt after a fire in 1948, was used for the fictional Pine Grove sheriff’s station. The building’s street frontage and surrounding pavement appear in scenes involving the local police, including Mark Evans, who works in law enforcement. The theatre’s marquee is also visible in the film, advertising a screening of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), providing another reference to the history of American horror cinema. The real Dallas Theater was restored and reopened as a performing arts venue in 2007, following several years of redevelopment.
Sidney’s coffeehouse, The Little Latte Coffee Co., was created at Bullock’s, 33 Courthouse Square in Dallas. The existing storefront was modified with temporary signs and decorations, turning it into the business Sidney operates after settling in Pine Grove. The café appears during her everyday routine and becomes important when a suspicious customer, Karl Gibbs, visits the establishment. After he is linked to the Ghostface attacks, the location takes on a more threatening role. Later, Tatum seeks refuge in the coffeehouse after escaping an attack elsewhere in town. Sidney attempts to guide her daughter over the telephone, directing her towards a weapon hidden in the office while Ghostface searches the building. The café’s position beside the main square also connects it to the surrounding street scenes, where the production filmed around the courthouse and neighbouring businesses.
Several other commercial buildings along Dallas’ Main Street were incorporated into Pine Grove. Hopp Frogg Music at 318 Main Street appears among the shops used for the town’s central street scenes, with its existing storefront and neighbouring businesses providing recognisable background details. Additional photography took place near the church at 401 Main Street and around West Spring Street. A building at 109 West Spring Street was used during one of the film’s chase sequences, when the action moves away from the town’s central square and into the adjoining streets. These locations allowed the filmmakers to create a continuous town centre from a relatively compact group of real buildings, with several of the streets lying only a short walk from one another.
The theatre where Tatum and her classmates rehearse a school production was filmed at Jennie T. Anderson Theatre, part of the Cobb Civic Center complex at 548 South Marietta Parkway SE in Marietta. The auditorium and stage became the setting for The Fairy Princess, a theatrical production in which Tatum and her friends are participating. The rehearsal is interrupted by a Ghostface attack, during which Hannah Thurman (Mckenna Grace) and Aaron are killed. Sidney receives a threatening call claiming that the killer is at the theatre and rushes there with the police. The sequence uses the real performance venue, with its stage, backstage areas and auditorium forming the setting for the attack. The theatrical scenes were therefore filmed in Marietta rather than inside the Dallas Theater, which was used for different exterior scenes in Pine Grove.
Another significant location is Brawner Hall at 3180 Atlanta Road SE in Smyrna, which became the fictional Fallbrook Psychiatric Hospital. The building opened in 1910 as a private psychiatric hospital and operated for much of the twentieth century before closing in the 1990s. It was subsequently acquired and restored by the City of Smyrna, reopening in 2009 as a facility for offices, meetings and public events. Its institutional history made it particularly appropriate for the film, in which Sidney and Gale investigate a possible connection between the new Ghostface murders and a patient who may have survived the events of the original film. The hospital sequences involve Marco Davis (Ethan Embry), an employee who provides information about a mysterious patient claiming to be Stu Macher. The production used the historic property to represent Fallbrook, incorporating its exterior and surrounding grounds into the fictional institution.
Brawner Hall should not be confused with the neighbouring Taylor-Brawner House at 3182 Atlanta Road SE. Although the two buildings occupy the same historic campus, they are separate structures with different histories. The Taylor-Brawner House dates from around 1890, while Brawner Hall was constructed as a hospital approximately twenty years later. The original hospital building is the location identified in contemporary reporting on Scream 7, and its connection with psychiatric treatment gives the fictional Fallbrook institution a direct historical link to the property’s former use.
Another major confrontation takes place at Parker’s Tavern, the restaurant associated with Chloe Parker (Celeste O’Connor) and her family. These scenes were filmed at Varners Restaurant & Tavern, 725 Concord Road SE in Smyrna. Tatum and her friends gather at the establishment, joined by returning characters Chad and Mindy Meeks-Martin, in the hope that staying together will protect them from Ghostface. As the group discusses the identity of the killer, the restaurant becomes the setting for another violent attack. Ghostface moves through the building, targeting the young characters and forcing them to escape through the dining areas and kitchen. The attack leaves several members of the group dead or injured, while Tatum escapes and attempts to reach safety elsewhere in Pine Grove. The Smyrna restaurant and the streets filmed in Dallas were edited together to create the impression that the tavern lies within walking distance of the fictional town centre.
One of the more unusual locations was the Savannah College of Art and Design’s television production facility at 1611 West Peachtree Street in Midtown Atlanta. The building formerly housed WXIA-TV, Atlanta’s NBC television affiliate, before becoming part of SCAD’s film and television facilities. Its older television architecture was one of the reasons the filmmakers selected it. In the film, the building represents Studio 7, where Gale Weathers conducts a televised interview with Sidney Prescott about the renewed Ghostface attacks and their connection to her family. As the interview progresses, Gale challenges Sidney about her past and the effect the killings have had on her children. The confrontation becomes increasingly personal before the apparent Stu Macher contacts them with another threat.
The television sequence was filmed in January 2025 inside the actual SCAD facility, with Courteney Cox and Neve Campbell performing on a talk-show set constructed for the production. The crew also used the building’s lobby and exterior. According to Karl Rouse, associate dean of SCAD’s School of Film and Acting, the filmmakers were attracted by the building’s retro appearance, which had survived from its years as a working television station. The institution also arranged for students to observe the filming, and several were employed on the production. After shooting concluded, Paramount allowed SCAD to retain the talk-show set, which was subsequently adapted for use in teaching film production.
The production’s principal studio base was Great Point Studios at 2553 Fairburn Road in Douglasville, west of Atlanta. The large purpose-built production complex, also known as Lionsgate Studios Atlanta, provided sound stages for scenes that required greater control than could be achieved inside the real buildings used around metropolitan Atlanta. The studio facilities were particularly important for a film containing complicated interior confrontations, concealed passages, violent attacks and scenes requiring substantial alterations to the surroundings. This work was combined with the residential streets, businesses and historic buildings filmed in Atlanta, Dallas, Smyrna and Marietta, allowing several geographically separate locations to represent neighbouring properties within Pine Grove.
Brawner Hall
Brawner Hall / the Taylor-Brawner campus in Smyrna is connected to "Scream 7" (2026), where it was used for the fictional Fallbrook Psych Hospital.