Courteney Cox still hasn't signed a contract for “Scream 7” but hopes for Dewey's return

Dewey, David Arquette's popular “Scream” character, was killed off in the fifth installment of the franchise, but Courteney Cox hopes he can somehow appear in “Scream 7.”

“I understand the reasons why they did it, but wow! There's a real missing character there,” Cox told me at the Rock4EB charity event on Saturday. “Dewey is so loved by 'Scream' fans. They need to find out.”

As it turns out, Cox hasn't signed on for Scream 7 yet. As I first reported in March, Cox began talks to reprise his role as Gale Weathers in the seventh installment in the franchise after it was announced that Neve Campbell would return after skipping Scream 6 due to a salary dispute.

“I haven't officially signed yet,” Cox said. “No, but there will be a 'Scream 7.'”

Not that Cox doesn't want to do it. She said she's “excited” that the film will be Kevin Williamson's first “Scream” movie. Williamson wrote the screenplay for the first “Scream” film in 1996. He came on board as director for the latest installment after Christopher Landon left the project in late December.

“You can't make a better choice,” Cox said of Williamson. “It's going to be fun.”

Cox said she has no timetable for a final decision: “They're constantly rewriting. It's not like I don't know what's going on.”

Campbell previously told IndieWire that filming was set to begin in Atlanta in December after being postponed for several months due to her and Williamson's schedules.

Since Campbell announced her return in March, no casting announcements have been made for Scream 7. Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega, who starred in the first two films of the Scream reboot, are not returning for the seventh film. Barrera was fired from Scream 7 last year for social media posts about Israel. Shortly after, it was announced that Ortega was no longer available due to her filming schedule for Netflix's Wednesday.