Scream Star Neve Campbell Confirms Scream 6 Story Included Her Before Exiting the Project

Sidney Prescott was originally planned to appear in the sixth installment of the long-running Scream franchise, series star Neve Campbell confirmed. Campbell, who announced her departure from the series amid a pay dispute last month, was the central protagonist of the first five films. She had previously expressed reservations about returning to the series at all without creator Wes Craven on board. Craven passed away in 2015, just four years after Scream 4. It would be another six years before the next Scream came out, marking a decade-long break from the franchise. Campbell, along with longtime co-stars Courteney Cox and David Arquette, returned for the new installment.

Arquette’s character was killed in the fifth movie, leaving Cox as the only one of the three set to reprise her role in Scream 6. The movie will be written and directed by Radio Silence, the same filmmaking team behind 2021’s Scream.

During a panel at Mad Monster Party Arizona, Campbell said, “There were plans for Sidney, and they are no longer, unfortunately. I’m sure they’ll make a good movie.”

That’s an interesting quote in that it not only takes the high road, but also preserves anything she might have been told about those plot points, allowing them to be reused in a future project, should the studio and Campbell ever come to terms again.

“Sadly I won’t be making the next Scream film,” Campbell announced back in June, as rumors started to show up online. “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.”

“A Scream movie without Sidney is kind of unfortunate, but I understand her decision,” Arquette told ComicBook shortly after. “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.” 

The most recent installment in the franchise earned $141 million at the global box office and has continued to do well on Paramount+. Even with an early streaming release, a pandemic, and numerous other blockbusters to compete with, that means 2021’s Scream made almost $45 million more than the 2011 outing for the franchise.

Scream 6 is scheduled to release on March 31st, 2023. Jenna Ortega, Melissa Barrera, Mason Gooding, and Jasmin Savoy Brown are all expected to reprise their roles from the fifth Scream film. The sequel also recently added Dermot Mulroney to the cast and will bring back Hayden Panettiere as Kirby, her character from Scream 4.