Skeet Ulrich says Scream return is unlikely without Melissa Barrera

Skeet Ulrich says he is unlikely to play Billy Loomis again without Melissa Barrera.

The actor told Us Weekly that his version of the killer only works alongside Barrera's Sam, the daughter haunted by visions of her father. Without Melissa Barrera and Sam, there is no Billy, he said, according to Deadline.

Ulrich returned in Scream (2022) and Scream VI (2023) as the father of Sam, played by Barrera. He did not appear as a living character. He appeared as a hallucination. "He was in her head," Ulrich said of the link between Billy and Sam, according to The A.V. Club.

That idea was meant to run further. Ulrich said filmmakers had discussed a three-film arc with him, but did not complete it, Deadline reported. The plan stopped at two films.

The break came with Scream 7. The new film was retooled without Ulrich's and Barrera's characters after Barrera was dropped. Ulrich had previously told the New York Post he was set to appear in Scream 7 until Barrera was fired, and later said he is "not involved" with the sequel.

Spyglass fired Barrera from Scream 7 in November 2023 after she expressed support for Palestinians in the Israel-Hamas war. The company said at the time that her rhetoric "flagrantly crosses the line into hate speech," according to Variety.

Barrera has since said she would be open to returning only if Spyglass no longer holds the rights, Deadline reported. Fellow franchise returnee Matthew Lillard said he was embarrassed to have come back after her firing.

For fans, this means the father-daughter thread ends unresolved. Two films built it. The third never arrived.