Matthew Lillard has revealed how Scream 7‘s alternate ending would have changed Stu’s fate. The actor has now revealed more details about a new twist regarding Stu’s integration with the franchise.

What did Matthew Lillard say about Scream 7’s alternate ending?

Scream 7 almost had a very different ending, in which a post-credits scene revealed that Stu is actually still alive. The scene, as Lillard revealed, didn’t play well in test screenings, so it was cut from the film. Speaking at the FAN EXPO Denver panel, Lillard opened up about what the scene would have included.

“[I told Kevin Williamson], we spent the entire movie proving that Stu is alive, and then if he doesn’t come out that door people are going to be bummed,” said Lillard (via ScreenRant). “So, what we should do, is we should shoot a post-credit sequence where it’s just Stu watching TV somewhere, alive. Yeah, we shot it. I will say, when they showed it [to test audiences], they showed it without credits. So, they go to the end and then they show me in a reflection watching TV, and it didn’t work…So, it didn’t work because they didn’t test it right, but I think it would have been completely [different with the credits].”

(Photo Credit: Paramount Pictures)

Had the scene been included in the film, it would have vindicated many fan theories about Stu’s fate following the original Scream’s ending. Instead, Scream 7’s plot sees its villains use AI deepfakes to recreate Stu Macher to haunt Neve Campbell’s Sidney.

Scream 7 got the worst Rotten Tomatoes score in the franchise. However, the film made over $207 million at the box office, making it the highest-grossing entry in the horror series. ComingSoon’s own Jonathan Sim gave it a generous 6/10 in his review, calling it a “generic slasher” without its meta commentary.

Scream 7 is streaming now on Paramount+. Scream 8 is currently in development.