Scream Star Calls Neve Campbell the “Heart and Soul” of the Franchise

The upcoming fifth Scream franchise has fans of the meta-slasher series completely pumped after the news that franchise stars David Arquette and Courteney Cox will reprise their roles once again. There is one major thing missing from the cast list of the new sequel however, the final girl of the franchise and Sidney Prescott herself, Neve Campbell. There’s been talks with the producers of the new film for her to reprise her role for a fifth time, but nothing has been made concrete just yet. Speaking in a new interview, Arquette expressed his hopes that it will happen considering her status in the franchise writ large.

“We have to get Neve, that’s the real thing,” Arquette told ET Online. “She’s the heart and soul of the Scream franchise, so to get Neve would be a really tremendous thing. Like, I’ve seen her at conventions and stuff and it’s just almost like family. We all have gone through this experience together and it’s — we’re all really sad about the loss of Wes…I would love for her to be a part of it. mean, she’s such an important– she’s the heart and soul of it.”

It’s unclear at this point if Campbell will sign on for the sequel, but Arquette and Cox both appearing might prompt an even bigger reunion. The actress previously confirmed that talks have happened about her return in some capacity, but things remain uncertain even now

“I got this really, really respectful letter from the directors of the new one,” Campbell previously shared with The Hollywood Reporter. “They came to me with Scream 5, and these directors are incredibly talented. They wrote a letter honoring Wes in such a beautiful way, and they expressed that the reason they make horror movies is because of Wes and the Scream films. They also expressed how blown away they are at the idea of actually getting an opportunity to make one of them and how much they want to honor and respect Wes’ vision. It was just beautiful, and I was really grateful.”

She continued, “I had really thought that the only way I’d step into a new project with new directors is if they really wanted to honor him. So, we’ll see. We’re just in the beginning phases of negotiations, and we’ll have to see where it goes with COVID and everything. There are a lot of things up in the air such as when we’ll actually get to make the movie and how we can even reenter this business at the moment.”

Ready or Not directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett will step behind the camera for the film working from a screenplay by Zodiac‘s James Vanderbilt and Castle Rock‘s Guy Busick. Scream creator Kevin Williamson and the third member of the Radio Silence trio, Chad Villella, are set to produce. The film remains on track for a 2021 debut from Paramount Pictures.