“Scream” fans’ ears pricked up last year when, amid casting news about “Scream VI,” it became clear that franchise star Neve Campbell wouldn’t return for the sequel. The actress cited salary disputes with Spyglass and said it was a “very difficult decision to move on” after being the face of the “Scream” films for nearly 25 years. Some fans expected the worst after Campbell’s exit, but Radio Silence‘s sequel ended up the highest-grossing film in the series, taking in $189 million off a $35 million budget.
That financial success assures the “Scream” saga continues; and it will, with Christopher Landon stepping in to direct the upcoming seventh film. But does Campbell have a place in the franchise’s future? According to series screenwriter Kevin Williamson, who penned the 1996 original, its 1997 sequel, and 2011’s “Scream 4,” she definitely should, and Spyglass should shell out whatever salary number both parties find equitable.
I totally respect her opinion,” Williamson said on a recent episode of the “Happy Horror Time” podcast about Campbell turning down “Scream 6.” “I know exactly where she’s coming from, I know her well. I love and adore her and that’s what she did. It’s right for her. I love everyone involved in “Scream” and all I can say is, pay her the money. That’s what I would do, I would give her the money.” As for how much money that would be, Williamson wasn’t specific. “I’m sure there’s a number they can agree on that will make then both happy,” he added, “so hopefully one day they will figure that out.”
While Williamson didn’t pen the past two sequels, he’s still very much part of the “Scream” franchise was an executive producer. And while James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick went in a different direction for 2022’s “Scream,” which revitalized a series many considered dead and gone, Williamson wasn’t afraid to share what he initially intended for Sidney in future “Scream” films. “”Scream IV,” “V,” and “VI,” would have been the love story of Sidney Prescott,” Williamson said, “and it would’ve been this whole thing of she’s falling in love, she’s going to get married, it’s all based around her marriage when these murders start happening again. It’s like, is this man that she’s in love with the killer again? Is she Billy Loomis-ing herself all over again? Is she still making the wrong decisions? Is she still choosing the bad guy?”
“Scream” and “Scream VI” went a different route, focusing on a new generation on Woodsboro teens and using Sydney, Dewey, and Gale Weathers more as secondary legacy characters. And while that shift has proved successful for the franchise, Williamson still feels “absolutely determined” to see Sydney receive a happy ending. But at the same time, Williamson also enjoys not being as involved creatively in the franchise now. “I feel like I’m getting the experience I always wanted with these last two films,” Williamson said, emphasizing that’s “fun” being more behind-the-scenes. “Not to have that stress of filming and delivering a script is such a relief.”
But the question remains: will Neve Campbell return for “Scream 7”? It’s too early to say right now, especially since development on the new sequel remains derailed thanks to the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA guild strikes. But Courteney Cox‘s Gale Weathers had one line that referenced Sydney in “Scream VI,” alluding that the character remains alive and well in the universe. But the heroine showing up onscreen again is still up in the air.
