Joel McHale Implies Patrick Dempsey Turned Down Messy ‘Scream 7’ Late

Scream 7 felt like it was rushed into development, which is really saying something, because Scream 6 was literally rushed into production, shooting four months after it was greenlit, and it is still a mess, and managed to have a more coherent story at least. The latest entry in the franchise, which was thrown for a loop after producers decided to fire Melissa Barrera for speaking her mind, just hit with a big ole anti-climactic thud. You’d hope that the creators at least got to do everything they wanted, but it seems like that wasn’t even the case.

Joel McHale’s addition to the film was very surprising. It’s not because of who he is. The longtime actor has the sardonic wit and Hollywood charm that the franchise specializes in. The surprise came because he was announced to be playing Sidney Prescott’s husband. In Scream 4 and 5, it’s implied that Sidney married Mark, a detective she met in Scream 3, who Patrick Dempsey played. Things got even more confusing because McHale was cast as a man named Mark who was… a cop.

Part of me assumed that this was some big misdirect, eventually leading to the reveal that McHale was the killer all along. Without getting into too much detail, that was certainly not the case. McHale ended up being a stalwart husband and cop, which is kind of nice to give Sidney after her troubled past with partners. But that doesn’t mean McHale got to do anything too interesting, save getting almost killed. His part was so underwhelming that I wouldn’t be surprised if it was pitched to another actor as “a few days on set” or “minimal commitment” to no avail.

My theory is strengthened due to McHale recently revealing that, when he arrived at the Scream 7 shoot, his… chair was expecting someone else. “Patrick Dempsey played the husband in the last one, and he was supposed to play this one,” he explained on the Inside of You podcast. “And I don’t know how it went down. I don’t know if it was schedule or money, I don’t know. Patrick, please forgive me if I’m f***ing this up.” Then, the Community star dropped the biggest piece of the puzzle, saying, “But I get there, and his nameplate is on my chair—I tried to keep it. They wouldn’t let me.”

First and foremost, as my wife said as I explained this story to her, “It wasn’t anybody’s job to get a different chair?” A pretty fair question if ya ask me! Also, if it could be switched out, why didn’t anybody switch it out?! It’s that kind of inattention to detail that happens when you have to rush into a movie because you decided to fire the person you were building the franchise on. For a storied franchise with lots of history, this whole thing just feels embarrassing.