Long Beach, CA — The original Scream returns to select theaters on October 30, Paramount announced during the film’s 30th anniversary cast reunion at Midsummer Scream. The studio’s horror label, Paramount Scares, told the panel they were the first to hear it, timing the re-release to the anniversary of the 1996 slasher film.
Midsummer Scream had teased this reunion when it booked the Woodsboro cast, Roger L. Jackson, and composer Marco Beltrami for its 2026 convention in Long Beach. The panel followed through on that lineup.
The re-release
Scream turns 30 in December, three decades after it opened on December 20, 1996. Rather than wait for the exact date, Paramount is putting the film back on the big screen for Halloween, with a select-theaters run starting October 30. The studio framed the reveal as a Midsummer Scream exclusive.
The Woodsboro reunion
Matthew Lillard, who played Stu Macher, hosted the panel and pulled most of the original ensemble on stage with him: Skeet Ulrich (Billy Loomis), Jamie Kennedy (Randy Meeks), Roger L. Jackson (the voice of Ghostface), Joseph Whipp (Sheriff Burke), and Lee Waddell, the original stunt performer inside the Ghostface robe.
Much of the panel focused on the fans. Jamie Kennedy pushed back on a common description of the film, telling the room, “It became a movement. It’s way bigger than a cult classic.” Joseph Whipp, who also appeared in Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street, kept it simple: “I’m just blessed to have been in this movie.”
What the cast gave away
The reunion doubled as a behind-the-scenes session.
Skeet Ulrich described how long the final party sequence took to film. Asked about the kitchen showdown, he answered, “Seventeen shooting days.” The crew that survived it wore “I Survived Scene 112” shirts.
Ulrich also addressed a long-running fan question without resolving it. Whether Billy or Stu actually killed Tatum, he said, was never decided by the filmmakers. Not even writer Kevin Williamson locked it down, which leaves the question to fan theory.
Roger L. Jackson walked through how the Ghostface voice came together. He was hired first for only Drew Barrymore’s opening scene, then kept on by Craven to perform his lines live on set, over the phone, with each actor.
Lee Waddell told the story behind Principal Himbry’s death. Filming the stabbing of Henry Winkler, Waddell was too starstruck to sell it, so Winkler stayed in character between takes and needled him until the stuntman reacted. The take in the film is the one that followed.
Ghost Face Vodka and a Wes Craven tribute
Lillard used his host duties to promote Ghost Face Vodka, the potato vodka he sells through Macabre, an imprint of his company Find Familiar Spirits. The bottle carries a QR code that loads a game of Mafia, and after selling out online it is heading to Total Wine this season, now with a Blood Orange sequel and a Lillard signing tour.
The panel also paused for Wes Craven, who directed both A Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream. Whipp noted that the director’s birthday had fallen the previous Sunday and that August 30 marks the anniversary of his death in 2015. Craven, several panelists said, let his actors improvise and ask for another take, which is how ad-libs like Lillard’s “You hit me with a phone” made the final cut.
When you can see it
The original Scream returns to select theaters on October 30, ahead of the film’s 30th anniversary in December. For everything else happening at the convention that hosted the reunion, see our Midsummer Scream 2026 guide.
