Created by horror legend Wes Craven, while the “Scream” movies might not have enjoyed the most gigantic box office returns, they’ve certainly done enough to spawn five films, and more are coming. When Spyglass Media decided to resurrect the satirical commentary on the slasher genre with “Scream 5,” there was skepticism until the film made an impressive amount of money at the pandemic-era box office, earning $140 million globally on a budget of $30 million. That lead to the announcement of “Scream 6” moving forward. However, it doesn’t look like we’ll be seeing Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott in that sixth installment.
The Canadian actress recently spoke with Variety, revealing that her exit is due to a pay dispute with the studio. Campbell revealed that she had rejected an offer they made for her to reprise Sidney again while also essentially saying goodbye to the fans.
“Sadly, I won’t be making the next ‘Scream ‘film,” Campbell said in a statement that definitely gives the impression she is finally done with the role. “As a woman, I have had to work extremely hard in my career to establish my value, especially when it comes to ‘Scream.’ I felt the offer that was presented to me did not equate to the value I have brought to the franchise. It’s been a very difficult decision to move on. To all my ‘Scream’ fans, I love you. You’ve always been so incredibly supportive to me. I’m forever grateful to you and to what this franchise has given me over the past 25 years.”
It’s worth noting Campbell has been involved with the series of horror films since 1996, and this pay inequality issue will likely face blowback from fans given how the studio went out of its way to bring back legacy franchise actors instead of making a hard reboot.
When it was recently announced that “Scream 4” actress Hayden Panettiere was making her return to the franchise, it certainly energized horror fans, but it’s unclear if that had anything to do with the current financial situation.
The 2022 fifth “Scream” movie also starred Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Melissa Barrera, Kyle Gallner, Mason Gooding, Mikey Madison, Dylan Minnette, Jenna Ortega, Jack Quaid, Marley Shelton, Jasmin Savoy Brown, and Sonia Ammar.
Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett will return to direct “Scream 6” from a script penned by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick. The film currently has a release date of March 31, 2023, but it sounds like Neve Campbell won’t be on the call sheet.