“Didn’t work out”: Patrick Dempsey breaks silence on why he isn’t returning in Scream 7

Patrick Dempsey reflects on his absence from Scream 7 despite his previous plans to return to the franchise.

The Grey's Anatomy-fame actor previously appeared in Scream 3 alongside Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, and David Arquette. He was expected to reprise his role in Scream 4 but backed out, reportedly due to scheduling conflicts. According to his appearance on the Today show, he was in conversations to return to the franchise with Scream 7.

“I’m waiting on the script, [but] I haven’t seen anything yet. So we’ll see what happens.”

Dempsey mentioned it in October 2024. However, there has been a change in plans with the latest installment. It doesn't show Dempsey's return as Sidney Prescott's love interest, Mark Kincaid. Instead, Community-fame Joel McHale will fill this role as Mark Evans. The franchise fans were curious about the reason behind Dempsey's absence from the upcoming film.

“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.”

The actor said during his recent dialogue with Variety's Mark Malkin on the Chanel and Charles Finch’s annual pre-Oscar dinner. It can offer some respite to the fans who thought Dempsey was not returning for a lack of interest.

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Patrick Dempsey as Mark Kincaid: The actor's history with the franchise in the wake of his absence in Scream 7

Patrick Dempsey starred in Scream 3 (2000) as Mark Kincaid. As mentioned, he had a romantic arc with Neve Campbell's Sidney Prescott. As a detective, he was working on an investigation into the Ghostface murders. He was assumed to be infatuated with Sidney. That's why the franchise fans believed he would return somewhere down the line, likely as her partner.

Unfortunately, Dempsey couldn't return in Scream 4 (2011) or Scream 7 (scheduled for 2026 release) due to his scheduling conflicts.

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Scream 7: What do we know about this upcoming Scream franchise film?

Scream 7 will bring Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Matthew Lillard, Mason Gooding, and Jasmin Savoy Brown back to their roles. Mckenna Grace, Asa Germann, Sam Rechner, Isabel May, Anna Camp, and Mark Consuelos will join the cast. The initial Scream writer, Kevin Williamson, will direct the film based on Guy Busick's screenplay.

When speaking about the upcoming film, Heart Eyes-fame Mason Gooding said,

“I think that Ghostface is absolutely the most brutal he’s been. I don’t want to spoil anything, but there’s some stuff that they do to the human body that I feel like [director] Kevin is breaking new ground with. There was a prosthetic that sat in the makeup trailer that actually turned my stomach over.”

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Also read: Community star Joel McHale lands a new role in Scream 7, Find out what