Neve Campbell’s departure from the Scream franchise raised several questions again about actor wages, with the star citing a pay dispute as the reason she won’t be returning for Scream 6. Having played Sidney Prescott in all five Scream movies to date, it seemed inevitable that Campbell would be joining fellow original cast member Courteney Cox for the next installment after the success of Scream – technically Scream 5 – in early 2022, but soon after the sixth film in the franchise was announced, Campbell revealed she would not be part of it as she did not believe she was getting the financial recognition she deserved.
In a new interview with People, Campbell has elaborated on why she turned down the offer to reprise her role as Sidney Prescott again, which comes down to the age-old story of a cross-gender divide in Hollywood pay. Calling out the inequality that exists in the movie industry, Campbell said:
"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, 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."
Colleagues Supported Neve Campbell’s Decision to Leave Scream 6
While fans of the slasher franchise struggled to imagine the films continuing on without the actress who has been at the heart of the story for almost three decades, co-star David Arquette was fully in support of the actress’ choice. He previously said:
"I'd love for her to be a part of it. 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."
While Campbell will not be back for next year’s movie, joining Cox will be Scream (2022) survivors Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega and more, as well as Scream 4 returnee Hayden Panettiere, who reprises her role as Kirby Reed after missing out on this year’s installment. While there are not many details on the plot, the action will be moving from Woodboro for the first time, with the survivors of the last movie relocating to New York, where they will face down Ghostface in the big city.
Scream 6 is slated for release on March 31, 2023.