If you saw the new Scream movie this weekend, you might’ve noticed a major absence in the film’s ensemble cast.
Neve Campbell, the main star in the original Scream trilogy who also appeared in 2011’s Scream 4 and 2022’s Scream, did not appear in this month’s Scream VI.
While it’s jarring to watch a Scream movie without Sidney Prescott at the center of the drama, Campbell turned down a return to the long-running horror/comedy franchise over an alleged pay dispute.
While it’s been maintained there’s an open door for Campbell to return to any future installments, it doesn’t seem like she’ll come back unless things change with her compensation.
Scream VI contract disputes kept Campbell away from the new movie
After 2022’s Scream earned rave reviews and $140 million at the domestic box office, a sixth sequel was greenlit by Paramount Pictures.
However, Campbell shared last June that she was not returning to the series over what she felt was an improper salary offer. Deadline reported Campbell’s reasoning for the split:
“As a woman I have had to work extremely hard in my career to establish my value, especially when it comes to Scream,” the actress says about her turn in the $744M-plus grossing global franchise, “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.”
Speaking to People last August, Campbell added that she didn’t want to feel “undervalued” by joining the project with the reportedly inadequate contract offer she had.
“I did not feel that what I was being offered equated to the value that I bring to this franchise, and have brought to this franchise, for 25 years,” she told the publication.
“And as a woman in this business, I think it’s really important for us to be valued and to fight to be valued…I honestly don’t believe that if I were a man and had done five installments of a huge blockbuster franchise over 25 years, that the number that I was offered would be the number that would be offered to a man.
“And in my soul, I just couldn’t do that…I couldn’t walk on set feeling that — feeling undervalued and feeling the unfairness, or lack of fairness, around that.”
How does the film deal with her absence?
Spoilers ahead.
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Scream VI co-director Tyler Gillett said that Campbell’s absence from the franchise could open the possibility for more exploration for the newer characters.
“We love Neve, and we’re huge fans of Sidney Prescott,” Gillett explained to EW, “but it felt like there’s an opportunity to really dig into this new crop of characters, and I think people will be really surprised and pleased with how successfully this movie does that. This movie’s been in our lives now for quite a while, but I think that we are still consistently surprised by how rich and how interesting and deep the relationship is between the four of them in this movie.”
If you’ve seen the movie (spoiler alert), you’ll know that Courteney Cox’s intrepid reporter Gale Weathers tells our new protagonists that Sidney Prescott and her family have gone into hiding once the new Ghostface killings have started in New York City.
So Prescott and her family spend the events of Scream VI safely away from the violence.
Campbell's longtime co-stars were supportive of her decision
Two of Campbell’s longtime co-stars supported her decision to walk away from the franchise.
David Arquette, who played beloved Woodsboro cop Dewey in the films, told Comic Book he was saddened to see Campbell go.
“I’d love for her to be a part of it,” said Arquette. “A Scream movie without Sidney is kind of unfortunate, but I understand her decision. It’s all a business in a way, they have to balance all these elements to fit a budget and produce a film. I get it, she’s still alive! She [can] absolutely be in future ones, but I think it’s up to fans to call for that in the future. […] That is sudden, it’s a business, though. I respect her decision, for sure.”
Cox told Variety she will miss working with Campbell but had optimism for the new installment.
“I missed working with her, but I’m going to support whatever she feels is right,” Cox says. “I have a really good scene with Ghostface and it was amazing. I’ve obviously been stabbed many times and all that, but this time, to work with Ghostface and not know who’s under the mask, it was a really fun. Usually by the time I’m getting stabbed, I know who it is.”
The door is open for Campbell's return
Ahead of the new film’s release, Scream VI producer William Sherak affirmed his admiration for Campbell to Deadline and said there is always a place for her in the Scream franchise.
“Look, she is an amazing person,” Sherak said. “We had an amazing time with her on 5, [so] we look at that and say, she is a spectacular part of this franchise. We want her to make decisions that are right for her, and she will always be welcome and part of this franchise.”
Executive producer Chad Villella reaffirmed the creative team’s respect for Campbell and what she’s meant to the series, per Total Film. Although, he added they felt confident they could keep the series going in her absence and weren’t “worried” about how to keep the story alive without Prescott.
“We are massive fans of Neve Campbell and what Sidney Prescott is in the Scream universe,” Villella said. “Everything we did on Five was because we were fans of hers for years and years and years in the Scream legacy. So I think that ‘worried’ is not the right word. We played the hand that we were dealt. And we’re very, very proud of the movie that we made, and the way that the entire cast bonded and came together on this new one and creating that thing and keeping that family element alive was very important to us.”
In the same interview, Scream VI co-director Matt Bettinelli-Olpin said that it would be very easy for Campbell to return to the franchise. Why? The nature of the series is the answer.
“It’s Scream, of course!” he told Total Film about if it’s possible Campbell could come back.
