Patrick Dempsey has explained why he will not be in Scream 7 despite previously saying he had been in talks. Dempsey originally appeared in the slasher franchise as Detective Mark Kincaid, a love interest for longtime final girl Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell). Although it was speculated that Sidney’s unseen husband Mark, who was referenced in dialogue in the legacy sequel Scream (2022), would be Kincaid, a casting update for the upcoming Scream 7 revealed that her husband’s last name is actually Evans and that he will be played by Community‘s Joel McHale rather than Dempsey.
Variety had a chance to speak with Dempsey at the pre-Oscars dinner hosted by Chanel and Charles Finch. They followed up on his comments on an October 2024 episode of Today saying that there was “a conversation” about him returning as Mark Kincaid in Scream 7, which began shooting in Atlanta in January under the auspices of director Kevin Williamson. Dempsey revealed that “it just didn’t work out” amid scheduling issues during the Los Angeles wildfires and his other commitments. Read his full quote below:
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.
What This Means For Scream 7
Dempsey’s Absence Could Have Huge Consequences
It makes sense why Dempsey may not have been able to join the Scream 7 cast. In addition to the widespread destruction caused by the wildfires, which devastated the Los Angeles County neighborhoods Altadena and Pacific Palisades in January, his schedule was likely impacted by his commitments to promoting season 1 of Dexter: Original Sin, which ran on Paramount+ through February 14. He may also be committed to reprising his original role in the in-development Thanksgiving 2, which is set for a 2025 release that may have conflicted with the schedule of the other slasher sequel.
In the Dexter prequel series Original Sin, Patrick Dempsey stars as Miami Metro Captain Aaron Spencer opposite Patrick Gibson, Christian Slater, and Sarah Michelle Gellar.
There could be major fallout from his inability to reprise his Scream 3 role. Now that Sidney’s husband Mark is no longer a legacy character, it seems much more likely that he will be killed by the new Ghostface killer in the upcoming sequel. While legacy characters have died in the franchise, including Randy Meeks (Jamie Kennedy), Dewey Riley (David Arquette), and Judy Hicks (Marley Shelton), many more of them survive the killer’s rampages. Thus, Mark Evans has now been stripped of this potential protection.
Kincaid Could Still Return
The fact that Dempsey will not be appearing in Scream 7 due to scheduling rather than a lack of interest means that Mark Kincaid could potentially return in a future sequel, if the franchise continues into an eighth installment or beyond. While it may be strange for him to reappear in the wake of his character’s role as Sidney’s love interest being replaced with an entirely different Mark, the door is still open for him to join the cast of legacy characters in the new movies, a roster that also includes Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox), and Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere).
Source: Variety
Scream 7
- Release Date
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February 27, 2026
- Director
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Kevin Williamson
- Writers
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Kevin Williamson, Guy Busick, James Vanderbilt
- Producers
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Cathy Konrad, Gary Barber, Marianne Maddalena, Peter Oillataguerre, William Sherak, Chad Villella, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett, Ron Lynch
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Neve Campbell
Sidney Prescott
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Mason Gooding
Chad Meeks-Martin
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Jasmin Savoy Brown
Mindy Meeks-Martin
