Neve Campbell has announced her shock return to the Scream franchise after leaving the film franchise in a row over her pay.
The actress, 50, who played iconic ‘final girl’ Sidney Prescott in five Scream films but bowed out for Scream VI, revealed her return for Scream 7 in an Instagram post showing the script for the next untitled film.
Scream 7 will reunite Campbell with Kevin Williamson, who developed and wrote the script for Scream (1996) along with those for Scream 2 (1997) and Scream 4 (2011). He will lead the new installment.
She wrote: ‘Hi everyone. I am so excited to announce this news!!! Sidney Prescott is coming back!!!! It’s always been such a blast and an honor to play Sidney in the Scream movies.
‘My appreciation for these films and for what they have meant to me has never diminished. I am very happy and proud to say that I have been most respectfully asked to bring Sidney back to the screen and I couldn’t be more excited!!! I could actually do that.
Neve Campbell has announced her shock return to the Scream franchise after leaving the franchise in a row over her pay (pictured in Scream 1 in 1996 with Rose McGowan)
The actress, 50, who played iconic ‘final girl’ Sidney Prescott in five Scream films but bowed out for Scream 6, revealed her return for Scream 7 in an Instagram post showing the script for the next untitled film.
“While I have been incredibly fortunate to make these films with both the master of horror Wes Craven and the wonderfully talented team of Matt and Tyler, for many years I have dreamed of how amazing it would be to make one of these films with Kevin Williamson at the helm.
‘And now it happens, Kevin Williamson is going to direct Scream 7! This was his baby and it is his brilliant mind that dreamed up this world.
“Kevin is not only an inspiration as an artist, but has been a dear friend for many years. To the amazing Scream fans, I hope you are as excited as I am. See you on set @kevwilliamson.’
Campbell played lead character Sidney Prescott over the course of five films over more than two decades, but announced in 2022 that she would not appear in the sixth installment.
She said the difficult decision was the result of failed salary negotiations, which she blamed on a stark “gender disparity” in the film industry.
Campbell was left ‘feeling underappreciated’ as she had starred in a horror franchise that has grossed nearly $1 billion.
But the Canadian star previously insisted she ‘(doesn’t) wish these films ill will’ and revealed she recently watched Scream 6 for the first time.
‘I wanted the film to be good. It’s not like I’m sitting in my house going, “I hope it stinks, I hope it doesn’t go well,” she told fans at Monster-Mania Con earlier this month.
Scream hit theaters in December 1996 and grossed $173 million worldwide on a $14 million budget
She said she doesn’t know why it ‘took me a minute’ to finally see it, but she was left impressed by it.
Scream VI has an all-star cast that includes: Wednesday star Jenna Ortega and The Babysitter’s Samara Weaving.
It also saw the return of franchise vets Courteney Cox, Skeet Ulrich and Hayden Panettiere.
It premiered in theaters on March 10, 2023, grossing $169 million at the worldwide box office on a reported production budget of $24 million.
“I actually thought they did a really good job,” Campbell said. ‘I think the cast are really powerful, wonderful actors.’
Whether she’s in the film or not, Campbell said she cares deeply for “everyone involved” and only takes issue with the studio executives who rejected her salary request.
‘There is someone at the top who only thinks about money and that is their prerogative. But for the rest of them, everyone else, I’m interested in these movies being good. And I worry about it for you too, because I know you love these movies,’ she concluded.
Last year, Campbell further explained her decision to leave the cult horror that made her famous.
The star is pictured in a bloody scene in Scream with Courteney Cox and Jamie Kennedy
Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich) was revealed as one of the killers in the final scene of Scream 1
talking with PEOPLEthe Canadian actress doubled down on earlier comments about walking away from her role as Sidney Prescott due to a pay dispute.
‘I love this franchise. I’m so grateful for that, but at the same time I really just couldn’t stand the thought of walking on it and feeling underappreciated,’ she explained.
She reiterated that it was solely because she was not paid the amount she thought she deserved for her contribution.
‘I didn’t feel like what I was being offered was commensurate with the value that I bring to this franchise and I’ve brought to this franchise for 25 years.
‘And as a woman in this industry, I think it’s really important for us to be appreciated and to fight to be appreciated.’
Campbell said she felt disheartened by gender inequality, stating: ‘I don’t think if I was a man and had done five installments of a major blockbuster franchise over 25 years, the number I became offered, be the number that would be offered to a man.
‘And in my soul I just couldn’t do it.’
The star announced in June 2022 that she would not return for the next blockbuster.
“Unfortunately, I don’t want to do the next Scream movie,” she revealed. ‘As a woman, I’ve had to work extremely hard in my career to establish my worth, especially when it comes to Scream.
‘I felt that the offer that was presented to me was not commensurate with the value that I have brought to the franchise. It has been a very difficult decision to move on.
‘To all my Scream fans, I love you. You have always been so incredibly supportive of me. I am forever grateful to you and for what this franchise has given me over the past 25 years.’
The latest revival of the film, released in January 2022, brought back original stars Courteney Cox and David Arquette and earned $140 million at the box office against a $24 million budget.
Scream IV saw newcomers Melissa Barrera, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding and Jenna Ortega join the cast.
Ahead of her official departure announcement, Campbell told Entertainment Tonight that she was unsure about returning for the sixth film, saying: ‘I don’t know if I am’, adding that she ‘can’t get into it’.
Scream hit theaters in December 1996 and made a massive splash, taking in $173 million worldwide on a $14 million budget, according to Box Office Mojo.
The Wes Craven-directed film featured an ensemble cast including David Arquette, Courteney Cox, Rose McGowan, Drew Barrymore and Campbell, and spawned three sequels: 1997’s Scream 2, 2000’s Scream 3 and 2011’s Scream 4.
A troubled Sidney and her boyfriend Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich) went upstairs to get intimate, but soon after he was stabbed by Ghostface.
Sidney stumbles downstairs and after taking a gun owned by police officer Dewey (David Arquette), she becomes confused when her friends Stu and Randy (Jamie Kennedy) both accuse each other of being the killer.
She then finds Billy wounded but alive, he then takes the gun saying “we all go a little crazy sometimes” and shoots Randy, revealing that he faked his injuries with corn syrup and that he and Stu are the killers.
They plan to kill Sidney and frame her father Neil for the murder spree, while also admitting they murdered her mother Maureen for having an affair with Billy’s father.
A bloody fight ensues in which Stu is stabbed by Billy and Billy is eventually shot through the head by Sidney.